The Lives We Leave Behind
by Klaelman
Summary: Tragedy struck 20 years ago with the horrid death of a promising young shinobi during the sandsound invasion. Now, a reluctant missing nin is asked by the village he had forsaken to lead them into the uncertain future. NaruIsa, and a bunch of OCs. genfic!
1. Chapter 1

Tragedy struck 20 years ago with the horrid death of a promising young shinobi during the sand-sound invasion. Now, a reluctant missing nin is asked by the village he had forsaken to lead them through into the uncertain future. Will he throw off their claims of his obligations and keep what he has grown as his own, or embark on the righteous path to lead these people out of the growing darkness?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but it's not like it matters. You can get FREE Naruto just about anywhere, be it manga scans or full-length episodes. So, whoever DOES own Naruto either doesn't care, or is stupid enough to not notice ANYTHING that happens ANYWHERE.

Author's Note: Well, I'm writing this because I want to prove to myself that I can write a long story and commit to it until the end. While I'm fairly confident in my plot development and character development skills, the action scenes may seem a little tenuous until I've got the hang of writing them. But, hey, there's no better teacher than experience, so the more I write, hopefully the better it gets. In here, you won't really have to worry about grammar so much. Both my beta and I are grammar sharks, and we both have quick enough minds so that if I screw up enough, hopefully one of us will notice in time to fix it.

You won't find much Japanese in this one. I find it tedious when I read too much in a fanfic I'm reading, but I'm not entirely sure what too much is, so, better safe than sorry. The only Japanese you should be finding in here is the bloodline names--even techniques, I'm just going to use english names, because it's easier (though not as pretty) to create new techniques with.

EDIT: I'm seperating different scenes by having them start highlighted in bold. I can't, for some reason, put dividers in. I've tried editing the document here on FFnet, tried re-uploading chapters with dividers in, and nothing seems to work. So, this is what you get. Flashbacks will be marked as such, also.

Well, now that that's out of the way...ON WITH THE SHOW!

The Lives We Leave Behind

Chapter 1

**Twittering birds sang** to welcome the new day to a vast expanse spread out from the newly budding trees. Shadow still shrouded a peaceful scene, but a warm glow and clear sky brought promises of a beautiful day to come on dawn's heels. A two story house made of a newer style made from mud dried in blocks and built up stood a ways away from a dull red barn that showed its age by the pealing paint and chipped wood that belied a tough construction job. All around these buildings lay empty fields which were mostly lined from all the plowing that had gone on in the past days, and which would be put to good use over the coming months to food to feed his family and the nearby townspeople. The only movement was the pecking of chickens in their pen, and a lone mule trudging along the fields with a man pushing a plow in its wake.

"Meeeeerr!" The mule grunted, trudging along with the plow in its wake. A laugh followed from the man behind it, who seemed to be adding his not inconsiderable strength to the chore. On closer look, anyone watching would have commented on the likely but ridiculous notion that he seemed to be doing more to the plowing effort than his mule, but that would make any onlooker shake his head and smirk at the idiocy of such a thought. The man stood, at most, 5' 10" tall, and look like he could barely lift more than three sacks of grain for his fields.

"Come now. It's early. Don't give up yet, unlike that good for nothing son of mine," He raised his voice towards the end, turning his face to catch a younger, similar looking boy of no more than ten relaxing aside the fence holding in the chickens. At the sound of his father's voice, the youth jumped in surprise, quickly vaulting over the fence to tend to the animals, his long blond hair trailing in the wind. The father turned back to the field he and the mule were plowing and shook his head, though his bright blue eyes shown with mirth. What was he supposed to do with that boy?

"Woah, there." The mule stopped, and the man walked around and unhooked the plow from the mule. He patted the mule's nose, then grabbed his reins and lead it back to the farmhouse where it could rest for the night. The mule snorted, and the man laughed as if from an old joke. "Now, now, Daichi does nothing all day, and we've been up for more than two hours. I reckon we can take the rest of the morning off and finish up after lunch what with all the work we've done already."

He led the mule into the barn, and shut the barn doors with a creak and a slam. Walking back up the path towards his home, the man turned to watch as the sun threw a myriad of colors through the sky as it rose to greet the new day. He took off his cap and wiped the sweat from his brow, then turned to go back to the shed on the side of the barn for the grain to be planted when movement caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He turned quickly and frowned when he saw nothing, then turned back shaking his head in resignation. He opened the door with a creak and immediately took note of the clack of pans and sizzle of food cooking over an open stove. He inhaled the fragrant aromas and felt his mouth water in anticipation. Slowly, he stepped out of his work boots and down the hall, tiptoeing over the boards he knew creaked and through the doorway, into the usual morning scene of his wife cooking over the stove with a well-worn apron tied around her slender waist. He snuck up behind her, and was ready to pounce when a spoon came flying from his side and struck him in the head.

He groaned from the floor as giggles came both from the four year old culprit sitting at the table he hadn't seen and his wife, Isaribi, standing over him smirking. "Still such a sneaker that you can't sense Hitome hiding in wait for you to turn the corner? You ought to be ashamed of yourself!"

The man quickly recovered and pulled his wife down on top of him, and with a startled gasp and a squeal from his infant daughter he attacker her mercilessly with tickles until she collapsed begging for him to stop while laughing uncontrollably. He brought her around until they were face to face as she breathed hard from the onslaught of tickles until he planted a kiss full on her lips. She returned it and for a couple of moments they shared in a passionate embrace until they heard a tentative cough from the doorway. Turning away from each other, they both blushed as their nine-year-old son stood there giving them his patented, you'd-never-catch-me-doing-something-that-disgusting, look. His mother stood up, blushing, and turned back to finish breakfast, while his father stood quickly, scratched the back of his head and gave his son a silly grin. His son rolled his eyes and turned to the kitchen table, hiding his own grin, where his sister blew him a raspberry, gurgled and threw another spoon at him. He pulled back a chair and the spoon hit it, before clattering noisily to the floor.

Hitome laughed and clapped her hands when Daichi made a silly face at her while he sat at the table and pushed his chair in. His dad pulled out the chair across from him and gave him a wink. Quickly, his mom brought breakfast to the table and took a seat across from his sister and in between him and his dad, who quickly piled food onto his plate and started to feed Hitome from it, who continued to giggle at him as he made funny faces while feeding her.

Isaribi turned to her son, "After school today, your father's going to pick you up and take you for a checkup."

Daichi groaned. "Aw, mom, Nariko, Washi and I were going to hang out after school today."

His mother fixed him with a baleful stare. "I told you about this last week, so you have no excuse. Be outside when your father picks you up, or else." Her eyes hung on him as he sank woefully down in his seat.

His father's lips twitched, hiding the mirth from his face as he spoke in a flat tone, "Listen to your mother, Daichi. Three thirty sharp, you hear?"

"Yes, sir." He sat sullenly. "May I be excused?"

His mother rolled her eyes at his half-empty plate. "Are you sure you don't want any more?"

As she finished, a blob of food came flying from his right and went splat on his plate. Daichi glanced at his mom out of the corner of his eye and drawled, "Well, I dunno. What do you think?" in a sarcastic tone of voice.

Isaribi pursed her lips and stared at him as he got up and ran to his room to prepare for school. She sighed as a smirk appeared on her husband's face. She threw a spoon at him and he fell off his chair in faked agony, and she and her daughter shared a laugh at this. "You're too easy on that boy, Naruto."

**Daichi let the door** to the house slam behind him as he left for the day. He was very upset; he had wanted to try out in that tournament. Sure, he hadn't learned any taijutsu since he was a little child, but he had practiced what little his father had taught him almost every day. He would wake up extra early to practice, and do so for hours on end. The only reason why he hadn't been found out was slightly confusing to him. Some days, he would leave the woods where he trained most mornings to take a shower and would pass by his dad. His dad would glance at him once and look away, going back to do whatever he was doing that day. Daichi often wondered why his father would not even ask what he was doing; he suspected that he knew, though why he wouldn't tell his mom was something that Daichi simply counted himself lucky for.

He walked past his father on the way to his school before he called for him to stop. Daichi turned back and waited for his father to catch up. He had shaved his head after breakfast, an odd ritual he performed every time he needed to go into town. His mother was always exasperated when she saw that he had done it again; she loved his short, spiky blond hair. "You don't really have a doctor's appointment later."

Daichi blinked and fixed his dad with a confused stare. "What? Then what did you tell mom that for?"

His dad's face filled with another of his infamous grins, and he leaned in, motioning for Daichi to do the same. "You didn't think that I wouldn't know about you entering in that taijutsu tournament in town, did you?"

Daichi froze. How could he have known about that? Daichi had been especially careful to not let anything slip, what with his parents being so overprotective. What would happen now? Would his parents punish him for signing up for this? He shrunk away from his father in anticipation of something...well, something not good.

All of a sudden, his father let out a great bark of laughter, causing him to jump in surprise. His father laughed again at the look on his face, one showing his surprise, and kept laughing for a few moments, before stopping and wiping a few tears from his eyes. "Oh, come on, Daichi. I've seen you practicing, and while you've..." He paused, then sighed and shook his head, "Well, you've done what you could. Anyway, I've decided to teach you a bit of something today. Go put your books in the shed, and I'll show you a little something." His grin was back on his face, and Daichi was hard pressed to match it. His dad smiled wistfully as he watched his son run with rare enthusiasm, to be quickly replaced with the weight of memories long buried. He shook his head to free him of the images brought to him. Today, he was going to teach his son the basics of one of the lesser known taijutsu styles in the world.

**Daichi breathed in and out** in a very deliberate way, trying to hide his nervousness. There must have been close to a hundred people out there, around the ring where he was going to fight. He could see his dad, up in the third row of the small stadium, the overhead lights gleaming off his shaved head. He sat next to a couple of other farmers from around their farm, all talking about this and that and laughing, enjoying themselves. What he was most nervous about was disappointing his dad; what if he wasn't good enough to fight with the simple taijutsu he knew? Daichi tried and failed to swallow down the lump that had been growing in his throat in anticipation of this match.

Despite his nervousness, though, he felt an overwhelming sense of calm coming from the back of his mind. It flowed through him, telling him not to worry, that he would do fine, and somehow, despite the fact that it was almost like a voice speaking to him in his mind, he wasn't afraid of it. He could feel it there, a comforting presence, and it soothed him.

He was jolted back to reality by the announcer signaling the start of the next match. His face set, his mind calm, Daichi stepped into the arena and into the fighter's circle.

The first match was against a boy roughly a head taller than him at 5'8", and who must've outweighed him by about 30 pounds of muscle. To think that he was, at most, twelve years old, would have thrown most fighters into fits of hysteria. He had small, dark eyes and a pug nose, and he was giving Daichi a smug grin of superiority with a condescending look as he cracked his knuckles in a fist. His shirtless upper torso showed signs of what sort of powerful body-building regiment he put himself through every day--it was obvious that no boy could get muscles like that by simple farm work. Daichi, by comparison, wore a sleeveless white shirt that did nothing to flatter his physique, although if you look closer than the people in the stands could see you would find wiry muscles pulled taught, rather than a body that radiated raw strength. The smaller body was one best suited for speed.

While this was obvious to Naruto, who had himself seen more than enough evidence that wiry frames held more potential than well-muscled ones, most of the people watching were acting as if this was already decided.

"Jeez, who'd let a runt like that into a tournament like this? He's gonna get pounded by that kid!" A man in front of him exclaimed. Naruto only smirked and folded his arms over his chest.

"I wouldn't count my son out of anything just yet. He knows how to fight."

The man in front of him turned around, astonishment on his face. "That's YOUR kid out there! Jeez, what sort of parent are you? That's Toriyaku Amichi out there! His entire family has always dominated this tournament!" He shook his head and turned back to the ring, where the referee was giving the fighters their final instructions. Daichi's dad just chuckled and shook his head.

"Fight three of round one! Daichi versus Amichi! To knockout or surrender! BEGIN!" The referee chopped his arm down in between the two fighters, then leaped back to his position out of the ring. The two fighters began circling each other, Amichi smirking and look predatory towards Daichi, who kept a blank expression on his face. It would have been expected of anyone, now, when going up against a mammoth such as Amichi, that in the mind of any opponent would be found terror and panic. In Daichi's mind, however, there was only that ever present feeling of calm that had descended upon him before the match. He felt no fear, and the only thing going through his head was a calculating series of taijutsu techniques he would use to take out his opponent.

It was at this moment, as Daichi was coming to a conclusion on how he wanted to fight this fight, that Amichi decided to try intimidation. "Well, well, well, who do we have here? You look like you're barely out of the crib! What's the big idea, having someone enter you into this tournament?" He faked forward, expecting Daichi to cower in fear, or at least flinch, but Daichi surprised him by ducking down and throwing his fist into Amichi's gut. Amichi stumbled back, anger showing on his features, as Daichi continued to circle, no emotion showing on his face. "What...you _punk_! I'm gonna kill you! You're gonna regret ever showing your face here!" He started breathing heavily, then rushed forward with an enraged cry.

The calm sensation suddenly turned to ice cold fury in Daichi's mind. Kill him? No. Daichi evaded an incoming punch thrown by Amichi and swept his feet out. The look of surprise on his face didn't last long as, before Amichi struck the ground, Daichi swung full around and gave him a kick under his jaw that sent him bouncing into the expensive seats, knocked out cold.

No one in the arena could believe that such a small kid could defeat that favorite to win the match. The sat in awe of what they just saw, or thought they saw, as he was moving so fast that some of his moves seemed to be blurred. The only one in the stands who wasn't in awe was Daichi's dad, who, a grin once again splitting his face, gave a bark of laughter, then clapped and cheered for his son. That seemed to snap everyone else out of it and like one they all stood and cheered for the underdog.

Daichi seemed to snap out of the state he was in and notice that everyone around him was clapping and cheering in a fervor the like of which he'd never seen. He stood, mouth agape, at everything around him; he remembered the feeling he had when he was fighting, all of his petty insecurities and worries vanishing with the feeling from the back of his mind, the intense calm that seemed to take hold, allowing him to use his taijutsu quickly and efficiently without hesitation. It felt great!

Naruto caught the look of excitement on his son's face, and when their eyes met, they each shared wide, face-splitting grins with each other.

**Four fights later,** Daichi was set to fight the championship fight. He had had breaks in between each fight where his dad would come down and exclaim energetically all about the last fight, and succeeded in making them seem like extravagant bouts of skill and style beyond the short length they usually were. Each time, when his dad would return to the seats, he'd be sitting a little closer to the ring.

His opponent had excelled through the tournament much the same as Daichi had, with lightning fast moves and powerful techniques. Both Daichi and his dad were attentive, though only Naruto knew that this fight would most likely expand past the parameters of the ring, unlike the previous fights. He gave a mental shrug; he'd deal with any of that sort of nonsense himself if it came to it. The opponent was a few inches taller than Daichi's own 5'3", and built much the same, thin but strong arms and legs. He had short brown hair and pale green eyes, wore a green vest over a fishnet-style shirt, and dark green cargo shorts, and an attitude of reluctance and resignation.

"Jeez. What a waste of time, this is. I didn't even want to be in this tournament."

Daichi's dad, who was sitting in the front row this time, heard this and snorted in amusement.

Daichi said nothing as the calm settled over his mind again, only this time it came with a sense of anticipation, as if it could tell that something interesting was going to happen in this fight. He settled into his stance, only to notice that his opponent seemed to be in a much similar one. Daichi would normally question this, but under his fighter's calm, he merely accepted how this match would be very interesting.

The referee stepped up and looked at each contender for a brief moment. "Final Round. Daichi vs. Nara Hoji. Knockout or surrender. Ready...fight!" And with a chop of his arm, the fight was on.

Unlike previous fights, where he would wait for his opponent to make a move, Daichi drove into the other fighter immediately, some part of his mind recognizing that this fight was more between fighters on an equal level. He threw his right fist forward, which the Nara batted away and quickly threw his own at Daichi's head to reciprocate. Daichi managed to dodge to his right, twisting and launching a kick at his opponent in one smooth movement. The young Nara brought his forearms to bear the most of the impact, but there was no pause in Daichi's onslaught. Daichi landed after the block and lunged forward, throwing punches and the occasional kick at him, forcing the Nara into focusing his attention on blocking and dodging, although he couldn't block all of Daichi's punches. A few got through to land glancing blows on his opponent's body, and a miscalculation by the Nara almost caused Daichi to land a solid punch to his nose. He dodged the majority of the hit, but was cuffed on the chin and landed hard on his back. Daichi paused in his fight, his emotionless mask waiting for him to get up.

His opponent sighed, rubbing his chin and rolling his eyes at his situation. _It figures,_ Hoji thought, _that I would get stuck with this job. But while no one on my team excels in any particular aspect of hand to hand combat, at least the others have good observational skills._ He sighed, propping himself up on his elbows and glowering at Daichi, who still stood waiting with his face an emotionless mask. No, it wasn't really a mask; the Nara could sense that there was no real thought going through the mind of his opponent--Daichi, he remembered. Hoji sighed again, standing back up slowly, a resigned look on his face. _This is all so...troublesome. _He didn't have any time to think much, after that, forced to rely on his instincts to avoid getting pummeled.

**In the shadows** of the topmost row of seats in the little arena, three figures crouched out of view under the cover of a mild genjutsu--not a serious one, but one that tricks a person's mind to ignore where the genjutsu was placed. It wasn't a very powerful genjutsu, especially when you considered the number of ninja in Konoha with bloodline limits that helped them see through it, or at the very least tell them that there was a genjutsu there. However, in a small town with no ninja population, it was more than enough to guarantee that whatever it was placed under would go unnoticed.

Underneath this genjutsu, the tallest of the three watched the fight progress. She didn't do more than brush back a lock of shocking pink hair behind her ear as her student was knocked onto the ground; he was a ninja, though only of genin rank, and he could take such a mild blow, though she was bound to hear twice as much complaining about it later. She turned to one of her other students who had veins protruding from around his pale, pupilless eyes. "Tell me what you see."

The student answered without turning his gaze, it maintaining a studious appearance, but there was a notable feeling of awe in his voice as he spoke, "I don't think that I've ever seen any chakra system like this. I've watched fights between hundreds of ninja, from genin to jounin, and I've developed my Byakuugan enough to see the pathways that chakra travels. However, I've never seen anything like this. It's like--I don't know, but I think that there's more than one chakra system in his body. I know it sounds ridiculous--"

"It's not ridiculous. If that's what you see, then that's what's there. Continue."

He gave a nod and continued speaking. "Well, if I have it right, then one of them is filled with circulating blue chakra, which is completely normal. However, this second system...I don't understand. It's red."

"Red? You mean filled with red chakra?" His sensei's voice was tense, even though she showed no tension on the outside of her body. Neither of her students showed any visible reaction, but both of their minds were reeling; in their two years under her tutelage, their sensei never showed any emotion except when in a life or death situation, which was fairly rare, even on C or B level missions.

"Yes. This chakra system is separate, but seems to mirror the blue chakra system. However, it appears that this system is more closely integrated with the lower, animal brain functions than the higher ones, like the blue chakra. And he's been accessing both of them in his fighting in all of his matches so far."

His sensei nodded her head stiffly, as though she had suspected something like this. "Thank you, Hishinoi. You may stop if you wish. We have completed the parameters of our mission. As soon as Hoji is finished, we will head back for Konoha."

Her students' eyes met, and the one that had remained silent throughout spoke in a quiet voice just above a whisper, "Why did you have Hoji fight if Hishinoi could see the red chakra from the start?"

Their teacher hesitated before answering this time, "Reports we have are that a former ninja of Konoha was able to access similar red chakra only when confronted with times of great stress. We weren't sure of what we may see if these moments of great stress never took place, so Hoji was inserted to attempt to force this...Daichi into a stressful situation to try and draw this red chakra out. However, if it is already circulating normally, then it was irrelevant to have him enter the tournament, something which he'll be sure to let me know for a while." The last bit was said in a sarcastic tone, which caused both of her students to smirk.

**Daichi stood still in his stance** as he watched Hoji stand up. He knew deep down that there was something missing from his opponent's fighting, a lack of serious desire to fight, and it annoyed him. It almost took the fun out of fighting; thankfully, fighting was its own reward. He lunged forward once again to strike, only to have his latest punch swiftly blocked and countered. He took a glancing blow to his shoulder and grabbed Hoji's arm at the wrist before he could retract it. He pulled and twisted it, feel the muscles and tendons underneath the skin strain against the unnatural way of moving. Hoji grunted and spun with his wrist, twisting away from Daichi and landing away from him, holding his injured wrist lightly in his other hand. His left eyebrow twitched in annoyance. _How troublesome. And even more troublesome that I'm starting to think like my dad. Mom would flip out. _A sudden smirk lit his face at the thought of his angry blond mother standing over his lazy dad and shouting things at him while he ignored her; it would likely be very disturbing if he didn't know that they loved each other so much.

The crowd was, at this point, cheering enthusiastically, with cries of "You show that punk kid, Daichi!" and "How did he DO that!" being the most commonly heard of all the shouting around the arena. None of the villagers or outlying farmers had ever seen any sort of fight like this before, but Daichi's dad simply stood still, silently watching his son fight with a smirk on his face. He watched as Daichi grabbed the kid's wrist and twisted, and applauded when Hoji went with it to minimize the damage to his arm. He knew who would win the fight, but Naruto was already preparing himself for what would happen later.

Daichi burst at his opponent before he cold recover from his last attack, thrusting his elbow into Hoji's gut. Hoji's eyes went wide before he was flung a good ten feet from Daichi, where he landed in a heap and did not get up. A groan was heard from the boy, and the referee went over, looked at him for a long second, and declared, "Hoji is unable to continue! Winner of the fight is DAICHI!"

The crowd roared its approval, with Daichi's dad leading the applause and laughing heartily. Daichi turned to see him clapping, and, a grin splitting his own face, threw his arms up in victory. "YEAH! Dad! Did you see me? I nailed him! Just like you showed me!"

As the referee grabbed Daichi's arm and held it up high in a victor's salute, the crowd's yells cascaded over him. What made his day was that his dad was there to see him, and with everyone around him cheering, he allowed himself to be carried off in style.

**Daichi was grinning** as he and his father trudged down the dirt path that lead to their farm. He couldn't help but notice the pride on his father's face as he turned to grin down at him. Daichi's dad put his arm around his shoulders and laughed. "I'm so proud of you! You did great out there. Tell me about how you felt." Daichi was too happy to notice that his father's eyes were a little tense, despite his warm smile and relaxed attitude.

"It was amazing! Before the first fight, I was really nervous, but then I just felt this calm coming form the back of my mind and...well, I didn't worry about anything anymore!" His smile was lopsided as he remembered the feeling of fighting, being in complete control of himself and showing that he was better than all the rest. "It was like, everything I felt bad about just disappeared while I was fighting all those kids. And when I fought that last guy, It was like I _knew_ that it would be a different kind of fight, almost like it being some sort of instinct, and it was _fun!_" They shared a laugh then, although he noticed that his dad hadn't put his all into it. "Is there...is there something wrong, dad? Did I do something wrong?" He looked guiltily up at his dad, whose surprised gaze was directed down at his son.

Naruto laughed, though it was more reserved than his usually barks of laughter. He sighed, and brought a hand up to rub at his eyes wearily, the wrinkles underneath them crinkling, the only signs of his age Daichi could see. He turned his head to their right, away from Daichi, and appeared to be looking intently into the woods on the side of the road. He turned his head to look at Daichi, meeting his worried eyes with contemplative ones of his own, and seemed to come to a decision right then. He pulled from his pocket what looked like a knife, though one that Daichi had never seen used on the farm. Then, suddenly and quickly, faster than Daichi could follow, he flung the knife into the trees. Daichi expected to hear the thunk of the knife hitting a tree, but instead was shocked to hear a clank of metal against metal. What had his dad thrown the knife at? "Dad...what're you--what's going on?"

His dad had turned to face the direction he had thrown the knife into, standing tall with an aura of power about him that made Daichi's breathe catch in his throat. The man who was his father had changed in the few seconds from when he had thrown the knife. Before him stood a man with the calm visage of a warrior; the feel of barely suppressed killing intent irradiated from him, enough to scare the wits from any normal person. Daichi paled in fear for who his father had become; gone was the strict but kind demeanor, and here stood ready a fighter--no, a killer, who Daichi had never known.

Moments passed before four blurs dropped in front of Daichi and his dad, eliciting a gasp from Daichi. They solidified into four people, three slightly older than him and one about his Dad's age, and he recognized one as the one he had fought in the last round of the tournament, only this time sporting an odd headband the same as the others in the group wore. It featured a metal plate with a spiral design resembling a leaf which caused his dad to tense quickly before relaxing. He still stood like the four ninja did--which was obvious by their speedy entrance--prepared for a fight if need be, but he no longer seemed to be holding back a desire to kill them. Daichi let out a breathe he hadn't realized he'd been holding when it didn't seem like there'd be any sort of fight. He took this as an opportunity to study the ninja.

To the right of the one he had fought, Hoji, stood a boy slightly shorter than him, wearing a white shirt with several pockets built in and matching shorts. Around his left leg was strapped a small satchel, while his right leg and arm were wrapped in bandages. He sported open toed sandals that went up to his ankles, an odd look that all four of them shared. What really made him stand out were his eyes, which under long, violet bangs were not only an odd pale, nearly white hue, but contained no real pupils. Daichi gulped at the look of concentrated anger adorning his face, which gave the impression that on the drop of a pin he would consider it a privilege to tear someone limb from limb.

Standing to the left and slightly behind Hoji stood a girl with long black hair wrapped tightly in a bun. Her face resembled Hoji's enough that Daichi considered that they might be related in some way. Her dark chocolate eyes stared into Daichi's, giving him the impression that he was being examined like a piece of meat, and that she was somehow satisfied by what she saw. She wore a similar vest as her lazy teammate, over a sleeveless black shirt with matching shorts revealing slim, well-muscled legs wrapped entirely in bandages. Daichi wasn't sure if this meant anything past some sort of bizarre fashion statement, as it didn't seem that she had any injuries that handicapped her noticeably.

In front of the three stood the stoic form of who must have been their teacher. She wasn't very tall, only about 5'6" (slightly shorter than his dad), wearing a forest green vest with many pockets over a fishnet-style t-shirt (not doing well in hiding the ample chest--Daichi blushed briefly here and quickly moved on in his examination) and a short skirt revealing well-toned legs. What was captivating about her, though, wasn't immediately apparent, as while her face was certainly attractive, the look was somewhat ruined by chin-length hair, in a bright--no, shocking was more appropriate-pink. This made Daichi stop his examination of them short and simply stare in morbid fascination at how blindingly _pink_ her hair was--wasn't there some sort of rule against ninja having hair this so...obviously _pink_!

"It's been a while, Naruto," the woman spoke, and here through her voice he realized suddenly what was so captivating about her after all. It wasn't her look that drew the eye, it was the way she conducted herself, as though she was extremely powerful and knew how to use that power in the most efficient way to achieve what she wanted. He stared at her eyes, which had softened somewhat from what he had initially seen upon their arrival. She was staring into his dad's eyes, who was meeting her gaze with his own stony mask.

Naruto stood still for several moments through an uncomfortable silence. In the next instant, a massive grin split his face, though if you looked into his eyes you would see a stony calm permeating through his mind, and the swirl of something unimaginable just underneath the surface. "It has been, Sakura! I haven't seen you in, what, how long?" His voice was jovial, hiding his distaste for the circumstances of their reunion. Only someone who knew Naruto would notice the forced feelings behind the words; those being both Daichi and Sakura. She looked a little downcast at what she noticed as him being upset at her arrival.

"Almost sixteen years now, I think. That's about how long since I've last seen you. And we never really talked since four years before that, before you left, after--"

"And I'm most glad that you've decided, now, to say hi! I really am! It's fantastic. You must have just been passing by and seen me, and wanted to stop and reminisce about the good old times! Well, let me start." Naruto paused for a moment. "Well, wasn't that fun? I guess you'd better be going, then?" he suggested, as his grin remained icily in place, an obvious mask of the darker emotions brought to the surface by seeing this woman. She flinched at his response, obviously because she could sense his true emotions hiding under the surface. "Now that you're here, and you said hi, you can go! Don't you feel so much better?" His grin stretched so that his eyes closed and the skin around them crinkled. His fists clenched tightly, and his arms started shaking slightly from his anger. Daichi took a tentative step back, and the kids behind the pink haired woman did the same, getting into slight fighting postures. Naruto noticed Daichi's uneasiness and relaxed slightly, dropping his grin and turning his head to meet Daichi's eyes. "No? Still want to talk? Fine, I'm a reasonable man. Daichi, go home and tell your mother that we'll be having four _ninja_ for dinner. She'll understand. I'll be back with them soon."

Daichi stood still for a few moments, trying to comprehend the complete 180 his father had taken. He kept his eyes meeting with his dad's, a little afraid, as he hadn't ever seen him this angry before. Then, he turned and ran back down the trail towards his house. _What...just happened?_

Naruto watched until he couldn't see Daichi through the dim light cast by the setting sun, then turned back, his mask gone, anger showing through. A frown set on his face, and it was then that the four ninja noticed that three lines had shown up on his face, in an imitation of whisker marks. He faced them without moving for almost a whole minute, staring into Sakura's eyes, her meeting his gaze unflinchingly, her own face a mask of stony calm, the only emotion showing through a glimmer in her eyes. He turned suddenly, facing the path that his son had disappeared down. "Now then. Let's get going. The sooner we get there, the sooner you can leave."

Sakura flinched at his harsh words, then nodded to his back and motioned for her students to follow behind her. Naruto started down the path with the other four a short distance behind him.

End Chapter 1

Questions? Comments? Complaints? Just so you know, I won't be taking a lot of time explaining my reasoning behind what I do. Many of the questions on 'why did you do this?' or 'why does so-and-so act this way?' are either already answered or will be later. If there's a particularly good question that I think needs to be addressed, then I will, otherwise, just try and think back to previous chapters.

Most of my updates will probably be around 8-10 pages long (as I understand it, this chapter is something around 6000 words). Updates every week or two, or something. I am a college student, you know, and I have about 2 months left of college.

DarkSov


	2. Chapter 2

You know how I said that I'd have Chapter 2 posted and that it would be about as long, if not a little longer than the last chapter? LIES. All LIES. I had about 10 pages of Chapter 2, but I decided to delete them.

HAHAHA! Joking. Those ten pages will actually be Chapter 3, and you'll get those this weekend. I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting, but it couldn't be helped. ANYWAY, enough of that--on with the show!

EDIT: I'm seperating different scenes by having them start highlighted in bold. I can't, for some reason, put dividers in. I've tried editing the document here on FFnet, tried re-uploading chapters with dividers in, and nothing seems to work. So, this is what you get. Flashbacks will be marked as such, also.

Chapter 2

Naruto led the way down the forest path, a light breeze causing a peaceful rustle of the branches and leaves adorning them. He forced his mind to focus on the calming serenity surrounding him, instead of on the annoying reminders following. He could feel Sakura's gaze on his back, but Naruto refused to turn into it.

Neither of them had taken the aftermath of Gaara's fight well, and Naruto was as sure that her mental scars were as deep as his, if not deeper. That didn't, however, excuse what had happened between them once he got back. It hurt that someone who he had cared about so much had thrown away his friendship like she had. A snort of laughter escaped his mouth; he couldn't help but remember how he used to have a crush on her. A frown replaced the smile. These were exactly the kinds of thoughts he had been trying to avoid. He didn't want to go back to what he was doing again. He had put that life behind him. He was tired of it all, tired of the glares, the fighting, the hostility. _Damn you, Sakura. Why did you have to find me? _A sigh escaped his lips. _Well, if I hadn't gotten over my crush on her, I may not have realized what I had in front of me._

"I have a good life here, now, you know." Naruto voiced his thoughts, throwing out his previous planned silent treatment. He wasn't a child anymore; there was no need to be rude, after all.

Sakura perked up at these words, a little light coming back into her eyes. She caught up to him, walking alongside him and turning her face to his, though Naruto kept his facing forward. "I know. I've...seen." She turned away, a guilty look on her face. Naruto threw an annoyed look at her. "She looked back at him, a slight blush on her cheeks. "Well, we had to scout out the area. I saw you doing business in the town, I saw how the people treated you there. It was a lot different from how they treated you in...Konoha."

Naruto snorted. "Of course not. They see me for who I am--a simple farmer, earning an honest living, with a family and a kid who's one heck of a fighter." A grin covered his face, shining with pride at how well Daichi had done. A _'hurumph'_ sounded from behind them, indicating Hoji's disagreement. Naruto turned his head and matched stares with the kid, before Hoji broke it and looked away first. "He did beat a genin in hand-to-hand combat. Not many non-ninjas could boast that one!" He smiled.

Sakura smirked a little. "Not many non-ninja are the descendants of the carrier of a greater demon."

Naruto gave her a dark look but didn't comment. Sakura's face took on a serious mask, "Look, Naruto, whether you like it or not, you _are_ one of the strongest ninja of our time. No one from our graduating class could even think to match his or her power with yours--at least back when you were still active--and that includes me, with my training under...Tsunade." Her voice broke a bit on the name of the Fifth, causing Naruto to narrow his eyes and give her a funny look; however, her stony mask was still in place. He turned back to face the path in front of him. "Well, I guess that would have been true, but it's been a long time since you've been a ninja--"

"Ha!" Naruto laughed out loud, a great bark that made Sakura jump; this wasn't of hilarity, but rather, she could detect the bitterness he held deep within. "Do you really think that the Kyuubi would allow this damn body he's trapped in to forget how to fight? Hell, no. No matter what I do, I'm still as quick as I've ever been, and as powerful as I was back when I quit the business." He brought his hands behind his head, cradling it as he looked up thoughtfully. "I still remember when I told him that I was quitting--boy, was he annoyed!"

_**Flashback**_

The poor light of Naruto's subconscious threw odd-looking shadows from the pipes above. He stalked through the ankle-deep water, a weary look on his face, not paying attention to anything except the massive gates ahead of him. He didn't know why he was doing this; there was no real reason for why he should tell the Kyuubi. _Well, he's a resident of my body, so I guess he should be told about what I'm going to do with it,_ he reasoned. It certainly wasn't in him to ignore the fox; after all, he most likely wouldn't be alive if it weren't for him. Hell, a lot of people wouldn't be alive if he hadn't been so courteous with his chakra.

He stopped in front of the gates, where he could hear a low growling coming out. Naruto hesitated, not wanting to disrupt the demon's sleep if he could help it, but the decision was made for him. "Hey, runt. What do you want this time? More chakra?" A booming laugh echoed through his subconscious as the fox turned a red eye to peer through the bars. Naruto didn't meet the gaze of the Kyuubi, instead trying to figure out a way to explain his situation before settling on the truth. The Kyuubi was eerily silent, recognizing a rare serious moment coming from his blond container.

Naruto stood still for a few moments, gazing down at his feet, before gathering up the courage to look into the fox's eye. When they met, Naruto's face showed his determination. "I'm done."

The Kyuubi just stared at Naruto for a second before making an annoyed sound in his throat. "Done with what, mortal?" He growled.

Naruto flinched slightly, but held his ground. "I'm done with it all. I'm done with being a ninja. I'm done with fighting. I'm done with this village. I don't want any of it anymore. And--" he paused here, his resolve seeming to wither before standing tall again, "I just can't do it anymore."

The fox stared at him, contemplating for a few seconds. "Impossible." He turned his back, leaving a shocked Naruto to stare as his tails swept around behind him. Naruto stood and gaped for almost a full minute, before realizing what he had said. His face reddened with anger.

"What the hell do you mean, you stupid fox! I'm quitting! What part of that don't you understand!" Naruto yelled at the cage.

The fox turned back around abruptly, a bit of killing intent leaking through, stunning Naruto. A tail reached through the cage and wrapped around Naruto, pinning his arms to his sides and pulling him up to eye level with the fox, who had now turned his full face to the blond. Naruto quickly remembered why the Kyuubi was the most feared of all the greater demons. "What I _mean_ is that you _can't_ quit. Being a ninja is a part of your very essence; always has been. It's not some simple _job_, or some way of life you can leave or change." The Kyuubi growled out at him. "Don't you see, you stupid child? If you quit, you'll be denying a part of who you are."

The sincerity in the Fox's tone stunned and confused Naruto. This was the same demon that he remembered from his first adventure down here, during his summoning exercises? The Fox then dropped Naruto and he fell about thirty feet or so back to the floor of his mind. _Yeah, that's him alright. _He scowled at the Kyuubi, who turned away once more. "You can't stop me, fox. I won't do this anymore. I can't stand it! The way people treat me, the way they...they _fear_ me!" His eyes showed his pain, though the demon kept his back to the gate. "That's what hurts the most! And I just know that if any of the people I care about find out about..._you_," the fox snorted but Naruto continued anyway, "they'll be just as frightened. If they knew how I got when I use your power, they'd turn against me. And if I put them in danger when I lose my mind again..." His thoughts turned to the last time he fought using the Kyuubi's power, when he had almost killed Ero-sennin. "If that happens again, I may hurt one of them. And if I do that, then _they'll_ all be _right_." Tears started to gather in Naruto's eyes. "I don't think I could bear that if it were to happen..." He turned away, one drop falling down his cheek to drip into the water below. "I don't want that to happen."

The Kyuubi turned one eye back to the blond. He waited a moment before continuing. "If you're going to just up and quit, then that's your business. But let me tell you something--I'm not going to be imprisoned in some thirty-year-old weakling who'll lose to any genin that happens by. You may not want to be a ninja, but there are people out there who'd like nothing better than to capture you and take my powers for their own." He turned his back to Naruto again.

"Of all the things that I've done up to my imprisonment, I regret none of it. Far I am from admitting that I deserve this...cage," a tail lashed out against the bars, causing a clang to echo down the hallways of his mind, "but I _refuse_ to have my powers used by someone to do destruction in any name but my own. Your body will never go to seed, your skills and abilities will never waste away so long as you live. Your mind will remain as sharp as ever, so that if you ever do come to your feeble _human_ senses," the fox snorted at this, "You will be as strong as the day you made this _pathetic_ decision." The fox growled, then lay himself down. "From this day until you decide to recognize once again that part of your spirit that _is_ a ninja, I will sleep."

Naruto stood staring at the fox, in contemplation of what he had just heard. Was he really a ninja in spirit? Impossible. He couldn't stand this job anymore. He was going to live his life the way that he wanted, free from any hated glares, evil organizations, and missing ninja. That was what he wanted, right?

Naruto steeled himself, his resolve returning. "You enjoy that nap, then. I promise you this--I won't ever be a ninja again. _Ever_." He turned away to walk back down the way he came.

The fox's voice echoed through his ears just before he woke,giving him a blush that lasted most of the day. "If, god _forbid_, you were to _ever_ have children of your _own_, then they will be under my protection as well. Consider it a...going away gift, of sorts. If you ever find a girl willing to do _that_ with _you_, that is..."

_**End Flashback**_

Sakura walked alongside Naruto in awe. Should she doubt what he had said? _He just admitted to having a drawn out conversation with the fiercest of all demons. _She rolled the thought over in her head before rolling her eyes; she should have expected this sort of thing. "Only you, Naruto..." she mumbled.

"Eh?" He said, turning to her.

"There's a reason why you're known as the Number One ninja at surprising people. You know how most bloodlines are derived from the sealing of lesser demons inside people?" She continued when at his nod, turning briefly to her students. "Pay attention, you three. You may learn something.

"When a demon is sealed into a person, then their children will gain the benefits of what that demon's powers offer. It's how all bloodlines begin. The more resistance to the use of his powers, however, and the demon's strength won't be fully brought about. The Hyuuga family, for example, gained full consent from the lesser demon they originally used to breed in the Byakuugan. Despite the fact that the lesser demon was by no means one of the more powerful demons sealed inside a living person,"Sakura glanced at Naruto fora second,"the Hyuuga's eyes are one of the most powerful Doujutsu known. It's why they've been the targets of kidnappings and such for over a century." Hishinoi nodded at this.

"If the consent of a lesser demon were to give such strength, imagine what the consent of a _greater_ demon could give." She smirked at Naruto, her eyes holding the spark he remembered from back when team 7 was still around.

Naruto grinned. Then, suddenly, he frowned. "I told you, I'm not a ninja anymore. I'm done with it!" He turned his face away from Sakura's again, causing her smile to drop, disappointment appearing on her face. "I don't know why you've come here, but I'm happy with my life. I have a good home, I'm a great farmer, I have a loving wife, two wonderful children--"

"Your son's as good as a ninja already, Naruto! Look at how he performed during that fight! He fought like a ninja, Naruto--"

"He's not a _ninja_! He's a child! He goes to school, he does his chores, he plays with his friends, all like a _normal_ child should!" Naruto yelled, anger showing through his voice. "I won't have people teaching a nine year old how to kill! That's not the way life should be!" His face was flushed in fury, his eyes boring holes in Sakura's. "In Konoha, toddlers play with kunei. Clans teach six year olds the proper way to seal an explosion inside of a piece of paper! Once kids hit ten years old, they're taught techniques to maim and torture and kill--how is that right!" He turned away. "I'll keep my son from having to go through that, even if it kills me."

Sakura froze at his declaration. She saw in his face the same determination she had seen when he had handed Tsunade his resignation from the Konoha Ninja ranks all those years ago. She looked down, unable to keep his gaze. Naruto turned back to walk silently down the darkened path, the sun having set a short while ago. Sakura watched his back for a little, forgetting about the children behind her that had heard every word and were looking at each other in surprise and contemplation. They had never before questioned anything like that, but the way he put it certainly gave them something to think about.

"Sakura."

Sakura started as she remembered her charges behind her. She blushed a little, before composing herself instantaneously. "What is it, Ichiko?"

The dark haired girl looked at Hoji briefly before talking. "Well...I think I speak for the three of us when I ask...who is he?" She nodded at Naruto's back as he was walking down the path.

Sakura blinked at the confused look coming from the lone female genin in her squad. Hoji and Hishinoi both nodded silently in agreement with her. Sakura chuckled a little before turning back to follow Naruto, motioning the others to do the same. "When I was a genin, I was put under Kakashi, and Naruto was one of my teammates. The other was...killed during the Sand-Sound invasion. He was named Sasuke, and he was the last of the Uchiha, save for his brother, Itachi. Actually, now I guess that Itachi is the sole Uchiha left." She contemplated this for a moment before shrugging. "It doesn't matter. When he was killed, Naruto and I both took it hard. He ended up traveling on a three-year training trip with Jiraiya while I was still recovering from the Sasuke's death." She paused, gazing off into the twilight. "I had the biggest crush on Sasuke. So did every girl, back then." Hishinoi and Hoji both rolled their eyes while Ichiko's attention was riveted on the story. _Oh! A classic tale of love and heartbreak!_ She clasped her hands under her chin and sighed.

Sakura turned her head down, looking ashamed. "When he came back, I avoided him. I didn't want any sort of reminder of Team 7. Instead, I focused on my apprenticeship with Tsunade." A sad smile crossed her face. "I wanted to get strong enough to avenge Sasuke. At the same time, I ignored the fact that Naruto had loved Sasuke like he was his own brother. When he tried to confront me about it, I made excuses and refused to see him, and then we got into a big fight when he got past all that. I think that was part of what pushed him to quit being a ninja." She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Naruto never had any family, but the friends that he made were more important than anything he had in the world. He was willing to die to give us enough time to get Sasuke to a hospital.

"When Sasuke died, the people in the village took it out on Naruto." Sakura gave an amused look to Hishinoi, who had snorted at that. "Oh, there wasn't much that civilians could do to to a ninja as strong as him, but whatever they did, it was enough. Graffiti, whispered words of hatred, and the looks especially must have been overwhelming. He was only a kid, and he had to deal with that his whole life!

"Tsunade told me, a long time ago, that part of the reason why he left on the long training journey was to get away from the village, to try and give the villagers time to them forget. But, when he came back, they hadn't forgotten. And when he turned to his closest friends, we didn't have time for him. I think that he finally grew to hate living in Konoha and everything that meant." Sakura turned her head down, focusing on the ground. That was when she noticed that they had stopped, and the sky was filled with stars and the sliver of the moon. "Come on, we should hurry up. Naruto's probably already at his house by now." The genins nodded in agreement, and the four leaped into the trees, following the path to Naruto's home.

Sakura's explanation ended softly, leaving her charges wondering if they heard anything at all. "Sometimes, I wonder if maybe I had treated him a bit better, then maybe he would never have left. Then, Tsunade might still be alive."

End Chapter 2

Good? Bad? I like it. As I said, Chapter 3 this weekend. It's a REALLY good one. Some of you might even cry.

Cry? Come on. It's fan fiction. Do you guys really think that I can write that well? You'll like it. I guarantee that.

EDIT: Just me reiterating my hatred of FFnet. SO difficult here.


	3. Chapter 3

I was going to do this last chapter, but in the confusion and annoyance I had to endure with the reposting of the chapters a couple of times, I forgot. Thanks to Certified Anime Adict, JPThug12 and Bluetdragon for their Reviews. I won't mention everyone, or comment on the reviews, but I just want to specifically thank these three for taking their time to review. Of the more than one hundred thirty hits on my story, those three took the time to post a review.Also, thanks to the 1 person who put my story on their C2, the 5 who added it to their favorites, and the 6 who get alerts whenever a new chapter is posted. Everyone, Reviews really are the lifeblood of authors. If we get more reviews, we want to post more, especially early on. It makes it a lot easier to write knowing that people like what you write.

Oh, I might post a few essays I've written that I think inspire people to think about things that need to be thought about, if I can find a way to do that in the rules. More later, possibly.

Chapter 3

**He jumped from tree to tree,** leaping seamlessly in conjunction with Sakura behind him and Pakkun ahead of him. The wind whistled through his ears as the serenity of the moment struck Naruto. Here he was, jumping with his teammate and his teacher's dog summon, and Konoha was being assaulted by enemy ninja. What was his mission? To go out of town, to where hundreds of enemy ninja were, find his teammate, and bring him back to where they would then proceed to find a place to hide, where they'd be safe from the enemy. Sasuke wanted to fight Gaara to prove that he was stronger. Gaara wanted to fight Sasuke so that he could kill him. _That idiot. There's no way that he could fight Gaara._ _He's on a totally different level than Sasuke._ The thoughts disappeared as quickly as they came, but the seriousness of the situation never left his mind. _I hope we're not too late..._

He glanced back to see how his female teammate was doing. Despite her skill in chakra control, Naruto knew that she didn't have the chakra capacity to keep up a chase for much longer. She met his gaze, her face gleaming with a fine sheen of perspiration that spoke more of her depleting chakra stores than the heat of the day. Naruto turned back to face the dog leaping ahead of them. "Hey, dog, how much longer 'til we get to Sasuke?"

The dog stopped on a large branch, Naruto and Sakura landing on either side of him. He took a long, hard look at Naruto, who glanced up to his pink haired teammate. Pakkun, turned to face her, and saw her panting slightly, her cheeks a rosy hue. He turned back to Naruto and narrowed his eyes. "It's still a ways away, but I guess that now is as good a time as any to come up with a plan of action."

Naruto blinked in confusion as Sakura frowned. "What do we need a plan of action for? We tell Sasuke to come back with us, and then we go back and find a place to hide." Sakura crossed her arms over her chest, giving the summon an annoyed look.

He sighed, then turned to Naruto. "Kid, what's this Sasuke like when he gets into a fight?"

Naruto scrunched his face up in thought for a moment, then his eyes popped open in realization. "Ah! He keeps fighting until he's either near dead, or his opponent is, or Kakashi tells him to stop, Pakkun."

Pakkun nodded. "So, before Konoha was attacked and Sasuke was told to go after Gaara and his siblings, what was he doing?"

Naruto gave him a funny look, "Well, he was fighting Gaara, then the fighting stopped, 'cause the sand and sound guys attacked..." A light seemed to go on in Naruto's mind. "Oh! I get it! He was fighting, so he's gonna keep fighting until either Gaara's beat up, or he's beat up!"

Pakkun bared his small fangs in a way that gave the impression of a grin. "Right, kid! You're not as dumb as you look!"

Naruto look happy for a moment, before his smile fell and he glared at Pakkun. Sakura looked contemplative as she thought about what the summon had said. "So, if they're in the middle of a fight, then we tell him that Kakashi told us to stop and return to Konoha. That still solves the problem, right?"

Pakkun shook his head. "Girl, if that Gaara is as strong as I think he is, then it's more likely that Sasuke will be beaten up than the other way around. If that's the case, it's likely that we're going to have to focus on a retreat carrying a wounded boy and fighting a rearguard action at the same time. Now, it looks to me like you've got little chakra to be able to carry yourself, let alone a boy who's bigger than you, and that makes you about as useful in defending the kid here as he carries your partner back. And, as ridiculously cute as I am," He stuck his head up and scrunched his eyes in a 'cute' pose as Naruto and Sakura rolled their eyes, "I'm not very good at either of those. Anyone have any ideas?"

Sakura thought for an instant before an idea sprung into her mind. "That's easy! Naruto, you can create a Kage Bunshin, and he'll carry Sasuke--Naruto, what's wrong?"

Naruto had paled and a look of horror had been pasted onto his face. Suddenly, he remembered his encounter with Gaara in Lee's hospital room and the unmitigated killing intent he had shown. He remembered when he and Shikamaru watched in terror as Gaara ruthlessly killed those chuunin escorts of one of the Feudal Lords, then passed them by as if nothing had happened. _If Sasuke is fighting...that...and he's losing...he could be dead! _He started shaking in fear. "We have to get there now. We have to hurry. Pakkun, how far are we from Sasuke?"

Pakkun registered the look of fear in Naruto's eyes and the clenching of his jaw. _This Gaara must be pretty strong if this hothead is so frightened of facing him. All the more reason to get the Uchiha brat out of there._ He nodded his head, "Alright, kid, here's the deal. We'll use that Kage Bunshin of yours, then do our best to get in and get out. Ready?" Naruto and Sakura both nodded, grim faced. "Alright. Let's get going, we're only about a minute aw--"

A huge explosion rocked the area, swaying the tree they were standing in. Smoke and debris flew through the air, and the three had to shield themselves from the worst of it. Sakura looked up quickly as everything settled. A scream pierced through the forest, causing Sakura's breath to catch in her throat. "Sasuke...!"

Naruto sucked in a breath. That was definitely Sasuke.

Pakkun's face turned into what must have been a frown by dog standards. "We don't have much time; it looks like he's in trouble. Naruto, create some Kage Bunshins to distract Gaara. The real you, a clone, and the two of us will get to Sasuke and get him out of there. You'll be responsible for keeping Gaara off our backs. How many can you create?"

Naruto's face was set in a look of determination. He brought his hands together in a familiar pattern, "Shadow Clone Technique!" When the smoke settled, twenty Narutos stood facing the direction the scream had come from, then leaped off the branch and headed towards the battlefield, save for two, the original and one clone for carrying Sasuke. The four nodded to each other, then jumped after the clones, each of them dreading the possibilities of what they may see.

They chased the sounds of battle and the occasional poof of a vanishing clone for a few moments until they finally came upon the battlefield where Naruto's clones, about a dozen of which were left, had imposed themselves between a freakishly mutated Gaara and a bloody, half-collapsed Sasuke. They all froze when they saw Gaara--his body seemed to be partly consumed by sand which had formed itself into a giant, blue-veined arm and equally hideous tail. The most frightening where his eyes; while the left one was Gaara's normal, human eye, the right was almost completely black with a yellow iris divided in four, and they both shared an animalistic urge to rip, maim, and kill. His grin was oddly contorted by the sand covering half of it, giving him a look of a crazed maniac ready to tear into his prey. Its chin was partly covered in blood, though Naruto couldn't see the source.

Sakura turned away to help Sasuke and almost froze, then screamed, dropping to her knees and nearly fainting at what she saw. He was covered in blood, it seemed to be coming out of everywhere. Naruto stared at Sasuke's torn and bloody outfit, and realized what had caused Sakura to scream, for while both were shinobi with plenty of experience with blood, neither was prepared for the sight that met their eyes.

He paled swiftly in realization, turned and retched his lunch out.

Sasuke's left arm was torn off at the shoulder.

The blood on Gaara's face...

Sakura let out another shrill scream as Naruto panted for breath and wiped his mouth clean. He and his clone leaped from the branch they were on and to Sasuke's side, who didn't react to their arrival and kept staring blankly at the ground. Naruto turned and faced Gaara, fear in his eyes at the realization that Gaara had eaten Sasuke's arm, as Gaara licked the remaining blood from his chin with a freakishly large tongue. He gritted his teeth together and breathed deeply, as his clone picked Sasuke up under his uninjured arm and leaped off to the side where Pakkun and Sakura still were. Sakura recovered enough to tear off the front flap of her dress to use to try and stop the bleeding in Sasuke's shoulder, her hands shaking but succeeding in tying it in place. Sasuke groaned in pain as she tied it tight, and passed out completely, causing Sakura to move to catch him.

Naruto watched this in terror. How was he supposed to fight something like this? This...whatever Gaara had become was strong enough to--to beat Sasuke. He had to get Sasuke out of here before it was too late. His shoulder was bleeding profusely, despite the makeshift bandage Sakura had affixed. Naruto jumped to the branch Sakura and Sasuke were on, crouching and facing Gaara, keeping his eyes on the maniacal beast he had become in form to match his mind. Gaara showed signs of becoming impatient, as he grew out his arm and took a swipe, knocking out a few clones, leaving only seven in between him and his prey.

A low growl escaped Gaara's throat in a crude imitation of a laugh. "Where are you going? Where are you _going_, Sasuke!" His voice was freakishly high-pitched, causing Sakura and Naruto to cringe. Sakura backed away slightly, shivering a little in fear of him. Naruto grit his teeth together; it was now or never.

"Sakura!" She jumped at the sound of his voice and turned her pale face to meet his resolute eyes. "Take Sasuke and run. Now! I'll try and hold him off!"

She blinked at him in a slight daze. "Naruto--wha--"

"Go! Get Sasuke out of here, now!" He pulled a kunei from its holster on his thigh and turned back to face the beast thirty yards away to see an abnormally large tongue swipe out and lick its lips.

_Those...fools! I'll _crush_ them!_ The sand on Gaara's face suddenly started warping, covering the rest of his head in a freakish imitation of a raccoon. "No..._no_! Sasuke...is my...my...!" He let out a shriek, startling Naruto and Sakura, and leaped high into the air. Suddenly, his shrieking voice filled the entire forest, sending shivers down both their spines. "Sand Shuriken!"

A hail of sand rained down through the canopy, tearing apart branches and destroying the rest of the clones Naruto had created as a distraction. They kept raining down, destroying whole trees and creating holes in the foliage, through which Naruto could see that Gaara had almost become completely consumed by the sand--the only part not covered were his legs--and he now look more like a rabid raccoon than a murderous fighter. Sakura and Naruto were both frozen in fear as he landed on a branch directly across from their own, a devilish glint in his eyes.

"Sasuke is _mine_!" Naruto and Sakura were forced to cover their ears in pain at the shrill screech coming from his mouth. Suddenly, he roared and thrust his arm out at the two of them, knocking Naruto off of the branch, dispelling the last remaining clone which had been holding up Sasuke, and spearing Sakura onto the tree. She let out a cry of pain, before going limp, held fast to the tree by the arm. Sasuke fell to his uninjured side, groaning at the impact. He coughed once, then opened a bleary eye, staring at the monstrous form standing over him.

"Sakura!" Naruto righted himself in mid-air and landed sideways on a tree trunk, gritting his teeth at the look of insane pleasure on Gaara's face. It struck him, then--as blood thirsty and murderous as Gaara was in person, this animal before him, the one who had eaten Sasuke's arm and was now looking to finish off the rest of him; this _thing_ was the incarnation of what Gaara was on the inside. It was everything Naruto had seen that had wanted to kill, to maim, to destroy everything that he held dear. It also hit him right then that he had a new mission--to stop him, at all costs. "I _accept_."

He took an explosive noted out of his pocket and wrapped it around a kunei, then at the loudest he could, yelled, "Hey! Freak!" This caused Gaara's gaze to shift swiftly from his meal to the bug he had swatted away. His annoyance showed on his face at being distracted from his meal, especially when the bug threw something at him. He grunted and took the weak attempt to harm him on his arm, a low growl the only indication of his annoyance. How dare the fool strike at him? He would be next. The image of Gaara turning the little bug's insides into outsides made a dark chuckle escape his lips.

Then, with only the sizzle as a warning, an explosion ripped through his arm, throwing him from the branch, away from his meal. He didn't even register the pain of a lost limb over the annoyance at having been separated from his prey, quickly grabbing onto another tree with his other arm and perching himself swiftly on a branch not too far from the thing that had the audacity to attack him. His anger grew with each passing moment, as he tended to Sasuke. _He will pay,_ the beast swore. _He will pay in BLOOD! _He ignored the clone that rushed in and caught the unconscious Sakura, leaping from branch to branch and away from the battlefield.

He tilted his head back and let loose a high-pitched roar, followed by a disturbing declaration that shook Naruto to his bones. "You cannot have him! Sasuke is my PREY!"

A giant fist collided with Naruto's chest, sending him flying through branches for several dozen yards. He landed with a grunt on a large tree trunk, sliding down to land awkwardly on a branch, leaving behind an indentation on the trunk of his back. He groaned and rubbed his head, turning his gaze upward, squinting at the clearly enraged Gaara panting in anger. Naruto cursed and struggled back to his feet when he saw Gaara regrow his arm out of what was left of it from Naruto's explosive tag. _How am I supposed to fight something that can heal any damage I do to it?_

He gritted his teeth; there was only one thing he could do. His hands formed a familiar seal, and shouted "Shadow Clone Technique!" Through the smoke, a clone popped into existence, and now two Narutos shared the same determined look on their faces. They leaped from tree to tree, moving closer to Gaara's perch over Sasuke, wielding kunei and glaring at him as they drew closer and closer. Then, they stood still, as if waiting for something. A low growl came from Gaara's throat; they were planning something, something annoying, and if there was one thing Gaara detested, it was things that were _annoying_.

**The two blond clones dashed** from tree branch to tree branch, carrying their loads silently, dashing towards Konoha as fast as they could. The two people they were carrying were severely injured and required medical attention immediately. The were running for the village as fast as they could, when suddenly, four blurs intercepted them, stationing themselves surrounding the clones. They didn't seem perturbed in the least that there were two of the same person carrying wounded ninja; either that, or they hid it well under their various animal masks. It was then that an realization flashed simultaneously through the clones' minds, causing them to relax slightly. _These were ANBU_. They must have been attracted by the loud and destructive fighting going on from where they were coming from.

One of the Narutos spoke up, "Thank god you're here. These two need to get to the hospital right away. It would be faster if you guys carried them."

The ANBU directly in front of the clones peered over at the other members of the squad, and a muffled voice came from behind the tiger mask he wore. "We'll take them. How severe?"

The clones gave a light sigh of relief; it seemed slightly odd to see them doing it simultaneously. The clone carrying the girl answered, "I think she's got a concussion. Not too severe, but I guess it's better safe than sorry." He handed her over to an ANBU with a bear mask who had stepped forward, then gave a curt nod and stepped back into a position around the two Narutos.

The other clone handed over a bloody boy; the seriousness of his injuries were evident by the amount of blood staining the clone's clothes. "He's the serious one--I'm not sure how much blood he's lost, but I think it's a lot, and that...that monster," the Naruto clone gave a frightened glance back in the direction he came from, "he--I still can't believe it..." Both clones had gone very pale, giving a simultaneous shudder, "He ate Sasuke's arm!"

The ANBU all took a small step back, some turning their heads in revulsion, while the one carrying the unconscious Sasuke examined the wrap around the injury before shaking his head in resignation. "Thank you. Where is the real you?"

The clones gave a sigh of relief before the bloody one responded, "He's back, holding off Gaara. He's turned into some sort of demon made of sand, or something--it's covered his whole body, he's turned into a monster! I don't think know how much longer we'll be able to hold him off, though, before he notices that it's not really Sasuke he's perched over--" A loud roar filled with rage echoed through the forest, shaking trees and almost throwing the clones off their branches. The one that had been carrying Sakura stood quickly, looking back in the direction of the fight in anxiety.

"You guys better get them back to Konoha. If anything happens to either of them--"

"I'll never forgive you!" The clone that had been carrying Sasuke finished the sentence for the other, then they turned to each other, gave a brief nod, and turned back, rushing for the fight.

The ANBU watched them go, then turned silently and sped off for the Konoha hospital. The tiger-masked shinobi spoke without turning to his companions, "As soon as we get back to the village, we commit to the plan."

The one with the bear mask responded to his leader, saying, "Sir, what about that beast? He was strong enough to take down an Uchiha, even one of genin rank, surely we should act to take care of this before he reaches Konoha--"

"If this beast is truly as much of a threat as he claims, then we cannot risk sending out any number of forces to take it out as Konoha stands. Our village is still under attack, and our first commitment is always to Konoha. If this threat continues on to Konoha, then we will face it with all that we have. We cannot afford to divide our forces at this time. The fox brat will have to hold his own for now."

**Gaara sniffed the air** around him. He could still smell Sasuke on the branch in front of him, but now he could tell that more of Sasuke's smell was getting farther and farther away, and the two annoyances were still standing on branches ahead of him, glaring but not doing anything more. He looked down at his prey and something clicked in his demented mind. His eyes went wide and he thrust his fist down through Sasuke's stomach--and a loud pop signaled the dispelling of another of those annoying clones. Rage filled his mind, and he screamed into the sky in his hate of the bugs in front of him.

"How dare you take my _prey_ from me! You will pay with your _blood_!" He thrust out both of his arms towards the clones in front of him, hearing the same pop of their destruction. He turned, looking for the real one, sniffing in the air and turning in a full circle, throwing blasts of sand every which way, toppling trees and opening up holes in the canopy, rays of sunlight illuminating his mutated features twisted in rage. No matter where he looked, though, he couldn't see his new prey. He turned in the direction he could smell Sasuke's blood and started leaping from tree branch to tree branch, sometimes knocking trees over on his landings, but not letting anything stop his hunting of his prey. _I'll get that little bug! I'll squash his insides into mush! I'll tear apart Sasuke in front of him, and savor his horror and fear!_

Suddenly, a blur to his right, another to his left, and another above him heralded the return of his hated enemy. He turned to look in each direction, rage and hatred on his face, throwing sand shurikens everywhere, not hearing anything but collisions with solid trees. Suddenly, a blast next to him threw him into the tree trunk of the branch he was sitting on, followed by another one just over his head, knocking him from the tree and forcing him to make a recovery several yards down, kneeling on the branch and glancing in every direction, alert for the movement of his enemy. Then, he saw him--or rather, them. There were several hundred of the blond bugs, all now perched on branches, on the sides of trees, underneath branches, all staring at him unmoving, surrounding him in every direction. Gaara was at once assaulted by the idea that this bug may not be only a bug anymore.

At that moment, all the clones shouted, "Naruto Special Technique: Cage of Death!" All the clones became blurs, rushing around in a sphere around Gaara, turning every direction he looked into a near-solid wall of orange. Quickly, kuneis began flying, impacting with branches, a sizzling sound the only warning before a huge explosion came. Each one rocked Gaara, causing damage to the beast's body, disintegrating sand and throwing him around like a rag doll. Gaara screamed as the pain hit him, the searing heat of the explosions not being stopped by the shield of sand surrounding his body, turning parts of it into glass, not stopping even when Gaara shrieked in rage and began throwing sand shurikens in all directions. A few pops were heard here and there, but overall not much of an affect was made to the swirling mass of clones that continued throwing exploding kunei at him.

A voice echoed around Gaara, surrounding him, louder than the almost continuous explosions, "You're a monster. Not because of what's inside of you--there's nothing you can do about that. You're a monster because you give in to it. And for that...I won't forgive you!"

Gaara was starting to panic. It was taking almost his full concentration to maintain a shield of sand over his body, and the concussion was still doing some damage. He surmised that some of his internal organs were already bruised, and his chakra levels were rapidly depleting, making the cost of keeping the shield up more than he could take for much longer. Gaara gritted his teeth in resignation; he would have to allow Shukaku to finish off the bugs around him. _I don't have a choice--Shukaku will have to come out. Now._

Naruto was panting slightly amongst his horde of clones, racing around with them in the ball of destruction he had fashioned out of his imagination. He was getting a little tired, but he could tell that Gaara was even more so. _It shouldn't be long...just a little more..._

Suddenly, a huge blast came from where Gaara was, knocking Naruto and all of his clones back several feet. Gaara's voice echoed through the forest, "FORCED SLEEP TECHNIQUE!" A roar came from within a dust cloud surrounding him, which in itself seemed to push everyone back even farther. The earth began shaking, forcing Naruto and his clones to grasp onto tree trunks and branches and other clones to keep from falling to the ground below. Then, an explosion tore out from within the cloud, and thrusting outward grew a solid wall of sand, pushing and impacting with Naruto and all his clones, causing them all to be dispelled and Naruto to be hurled through several branches and into the trunk of a tree. He coughed up some blood, then looked up to see that all of the trees in front of him had been knocked to the ground, and through the dust of the collapsed forest he made out something that froze his blood cold in his veins.

Standing in front of him was a two hundred foot monstrosity, sharing features of what Gaara had appeared as during their fight. His body was made completely of sand and had formed into a resemblance of some sort of squirrel or raccoon, with a giant tail longer than it was tall and covered in sharp, scale-like protrusions. Its legs and arms were thicker around than a dozen trees bound together, and its mouth held giant teeth that were stained an ominous red. Its eyes peered around, looking at the forest it stood in, then threw its head back and screamed to the sky, "Alright! I'm _free_ at last!"

Naruto stood on shaky legs, gazing at the beast in front of him. This was what he had been fighting before, not Gaara, but this beast, inside Gaara's mind. _And it seems that it's just been released after a long time, too..._ Naruto swallowed a lump in his throat nervously. What was he supposed to do to fight this guy? He was almost out of chakra, all those clones had nearly drained him dry. Things were seeming to be more than he could handle, now.

The beast focused on Naruto then, and Naruto groaned aloud when he realized this. _This is just not my day. _

Shukaku grinned maniacally, looking at his new prey in interest. This was what had been troubling his container? _He looks like a little bug--I should squish him! _"Shukaku is going to kill you, you little bug!" His booming voice echoed far, as far as to the village where the battle was still going on. Leaf and Sound shinobi all paused in their fighting at that moment, wondering what could have possibly caused such a call. The ninja of the Sand, however, froze in horror at who that must be, then began as a whole fighting to get out of the village, throwing the Leaf and Sound forces off balance for a moment before the Leaf began fighting against the now retreating Sand and Sound.

Shukaku gathered sand all around his front paw, then sent it to his new prey. It surrounded Naruto's body, then drew him up to Shukaku's eye level, and he let out a great booming laugh. "This is the bug that was causing so much trouble? What a weakling!" Another laugh echoed through the forest, causing Naruto to grit his teeth, unable to fight back due to his captivity in the cocoon of sand, almost giving up hope..._I'm sorry, everyone..._

Shukaku laughed once more, pulling Naruto over his head and watching him squirm uselessly above him. "After I eat you, I'll find that Sasuke and eat him, too!"

Naruto drew in a gasp of breathe at this proclamation. _Sasuke? _He couldn't let this beast get to him. Like it or not, he was the only one that could stop this thing before it got to Konoha, where it would surely be able to destroy the village before anyone would be able too stop it! _Konoha is my home! I won't...let...you! _Naruto started to pull at previously unknown reserves of chakra then. _More...I need more! Give me chakra, you damn fox! _He shut his eyes in concentration, drawing from the depths of his very essence the presence of the demon sealed inside him.

A fox-like bark of laughter echoed through his mind, before he was flooded with energy, chakra like he had never known before. _This is totally unlike the fight against Haku...the fall in the canyon...I will defeat him!_ Naruto threw off the sand around him, his body being surrounded by a red aura that radiated power and strength beyond his own power. He felt invincible, he could take on the world!

Shukaku felt the power coming from the boy and took a step back out of shock, before leaping back a full half a mile, trees being thrown up as his huge mass landed with a loud _boom_. Where the boy had once been held by his own sand, he was now hovering, a swirling red chakra surrounding his form. _What is this...I know this...this is_--_the Demon Fox! Impossible!_

The swirling red chakra was suddenly absorbed into his body, and then, to Shukaku's great horror, the red aura began to grow from the boy, outward into a blob hovering floating above the ground. Things sprouted from the sides, morphing into four crude chakra legs. A head began to grow from where Shukaku could see the boy's human body. Ears swept upward, a nose elongated and whiskers seemed to sprout, and the chakra body began to thicken until he could no longer see through it. Finally, tails burst outward, waving around as if finding pleasure in their new found freedom. Dust and trees were kicked up when the red tails came into contact with the ground, gouging out furrows hundreds of feet long. The body fully formed, it seemed to completely coalesce into a physical force, as if the Kyuubi truly walked again. A shiver went down Shukaku's spine when the eyes popped open, revealing slitted pupils surrounded by the deepest blue. Naruto's mind raced with everything that had happened when he called upon the fox's power, grinning in triumph, throwing his head back in a deafening fox howl that echoed farther across the continent than Shukaku's own had.

"You," A guttural growl emerged from the beast's mouth, and Naruto's voice echoed across the forest and through Shukaku's ears, "For what you've done...for all the people you've killed..." His eyes filled with pain at what he had seen. "for what you did to Sasuke, and to Sakura, and what you'll do if you keep on destroying, I will stop you. And I promise this, right here--" Suddenly, his body arched back, and the fox was standing on its hind legs, as straight as if it were the body of a human. "I promise that I will make you pay! No matter what," He brought a claw up, and it closed into a fist, his face showing great determination, "I will _never_ forgive you!"

He lashed out at the sand demon, scratching across his chest with a claw that could cut through diamond. Shukaku jumped back, the strike barely grazing his tough skin, but leaving scratch marks all the same. Naruto was back on all fours, glaring at Shukaku, but at the same time, in amazement at the changes he could sense from his new ethereal body. He could smell the trees, the fresh air, the sand of Shukaku's body; he could feel the power thrumming through his veins and arteries, giving him more strength than he had ever imagined; he could feel the animal instincts rise in his mind, yelling _riptearkilldestroy!_, yet tempered and finally calmed by his human mind, thinking logically about his abilities and advantage over the now overweight-looking raccoon. The red aura swirling around him returned to his body, and he leaped forward with astounding speed, into Shukaku, forcing him back into a mountain. Shukaku growled and swiped at Naruto's head with his massive tail, intending to do him severe damage with its teeth.

Naruto surprised him, though, by catching the tail effortlessly in his own tails, then, to Shukaku's terror, lifting the demon up into the air and throwing him into the ground, creating a massive earthquake that could be felt as far away as the distant Earth and Lightning countries. He thrust his right claw forward into Shukaku's Shoulder, drawing a cry of agony from the beast. He continued to tear through the shoulder until he pulled off the arm with his tails, then threw it onto the side of the mountain where it quickly disintegrated into sand and blew away. Naruto then used his left claw and clutched the throat of the demon, causing Shukaku's eyes to fly open in fear at the position he was in--with a super-powerful demon perched over him, ready to kill him. Naruto drew his face in close to the raccoon, when suddenly, Shukaku started laughing.

"You and Gaara are very similar, fox boy." The blue eyes narrowed in anger. "You are both despised by those around you. Everyone wishes that you were never born, that you would die. Don't bother denying it, it's true! I've seen how the people of that rat whole treat you! They see you as a bother, a reminder of the past that they want to forget! They hate you!" Shukaku's laugh echoed once again through the surrounding forest as Naruto's giant fangs ground together in fury. "Why protect them when all they want for you is DEATH!" He thrust out his other arm, knocking the boy back. He got swiftly to his feet, drawing in a giant breath. His mouth opened and out came, "Air Bullet!" He punched himself in the stomach, shooting a burst of air that hit Naruto under the chin, throwing him onto his back hundreds of feet away with a loud _crunch_ from the trees underneath. Shukaku's laugh echoed once more across the forest.

"See, boy, you could never defeat me! Gaara has embraced the hatred of the people around him! He's much stronger than you are! You could never hope to defeat us! We'll kill every little bug in that damn village of yours!" Naruto groaned from the ground. He was slightly dazed from the point-blank range shot under his chin, Shukaku's laugh echoing through his head. Memories of his childhood assailed his senses, the feelings of despair from when people would keep their children from playing with him, the fear he experienced when shopkeepers would snarl at him and yell at him to get out of their store, and the loneliness, the loneliness that pervaded every aspect of his life when he entered the ninja academy. How his first few teachers would sneer at him, how his classmates would bully him. Naruto laughed, a harsh laugh that held no happiness.

"Yeah." He groaned as he rolled over onto his stomach, wincing as some of the trees prodded him under his giant belly. "You're right. A lot of those people," He stood on all fours, dust coming off his back in small clouds as he rose, "a lot of them hated me. And a lot of them still do. I thought that I would be alone forever. And it hurt," His eyes conveyed the deep pain he still felt at how he was treated back then. "It really hurt. It still does hurt, and it will always hurt. But now, there are people who don't hate me." In his mind, images flashed of his friends, his fellow genin, the Hokage, Iruka, Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke. "There are people who care about me, and who I care about. They are precious to me." Suddenly, his face showed intense determination. "And if you're going to do what you want and destroy all that, then I will _fight_ you..." Naruto drew back, his tails grasping fallen trees in preparation to strike, "even if I must _die_! I _will _keep you from hurting them! That's a promise!" His tails lashed out forward, throwing the trees at Shukaku's face faster than he could dodge. A few hit him on his nose, with one striking him blunt over his eye, eliciting a cry of pain and outrage. "Even if I have to kill you, _I will not let you win_!"

Naruto dove forward, his claws sinking into Shukaku's side and good arm. His teeth clamped over Shukaku's throat, and the sand demon yelled in pain once more. He threw his tail at Naruto's side, once, twice, three times, but Naruto wouldn't let go. Shukaku screamed in agony as he felt the fox's teeth gouging deeper into his neck, and he brought down his tail once more into Naruto's side, finally throwing him off. Naruto didn't waste time, whipping his tails around to strike Shukaku in the face once more. Shukaku inhaled deeply, preparing for another of his attacks; to his surprise, the fox in front of him did the same, and they screamed out attacks at the same time.

"Air Bullet!"

"Hell's Fury!"

Shukaku's attack was engulfed by the massive jet of flames coming from the fox's mouth. The flames absorbed the air and grew in intensity, continuing on until they struck Shukaku in the chest. Shukaku screamed out in pain and fear; he could feel his powers depleting rapidly. "No! _No_! This can't be! Stop! I beg of you, _stop_!" His screams grew more and more frantic under the onslaught of the flames. They began to eat away at his body, red-hot sand plummeting through the foliage, causing holes to sprout in some of the canopy but thankfully the trees kept from catching fire. Finally, wit ha final echoing cry, his body was disintegrated altogether, and the fire went through and struck a mountain, melting age-old rock and causing a huge gouge to appear through the top before Naruto thought to end his fierce attack.

His death cries echoed throughout the entire valley, reaching the ears of retreating Sand and Sound ninja, and of regrouping Leaf ninja, and the light of the flames seemed to be greater than the sun as most from miles around had to shield their eyes. In the village, sitting atop a giant frog, Jiraiya turned to gaze into the bright light, an intense look chiseled onto his age visage. "Naruto..."

**Naruto sat outside** of the hospital's emergency room on a bench. A short ways down the hall, a few medic ninja and nurses conferred, casting worried glances in Naruto's general direction, until a silent glare from Jiraiya sent them scurrying away. He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, smiling reassuredly when Naruto's somber, worried gaze met his own. Naruto looked down at his knees, contemplating what he had done. His eyes had a hollow look to them. He had killed Gaara; this thought kept coming back to his mind, his conscience berating him for taking a life.

Kakashi was crouching across from the emergency room doors, where ANBU in matching ape masks stood guard over where the top medical ninja in Konoha attempted to do what they could to help Sasuke. It didn't look good--Gaara, in his maddened state, had caused quite a bit of damage, aside from the loss of his arm. The medics were concerned that the majority of the damage would be at the best long lasting, and at the worst permanent, specifically in the case of the lost limb.

Naruto glanced at Kakashi, whose eye was staring lazily at doors, then flickered over to meet Naruto's blank stare, then closed in his usual masked smile. In an odd way, it gave a little comfort to Naruto; Kakashi didn't think he was a monster. His emotions took a nosedive then with the realization that _he didn't see the fox_. Naruto's thoughts became panicked. What would happen if anyone found out that he had taken the form of the nine-tailed fox inside of him? Would they panic? Would they think that he was a monster, or that the fox had taken control? Naruto began to shake in despair for what was going to happen. _They'll take away my ninja license...everyone will hate me..and they'll be right, I am a monster..._

Jiraiya and Kakashi both noticed when Naruto's face mirrored the panic inside his mind. Jiraiya and Kakashi glanced at each other, and Jiraiya put his hand on Naruto's shoulder supportively. "Kid."

Naruto looked up into the determined gaze of his older teacher. "Whatever you did out there, you had to do. It's part of being a shinobi--this is a job of death and murder. This is something that all Ninja have to come to grips with. Every day comes with the risk of being killed. Every mission may cause the death of one or more people. What you did out there..." Naruto cringed and looked away, until Jiraiya squeezed his shoulder, bringing Naruto's eyes back to meet his own. "You did what you had to do. If you hadn't done that, then it's likely that the sand demon would have been able to attack Konoha. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people would have died. What you did saved a lot of people."

Naruto dropped his eyes to the floor, then brought them back up reluctantly. "I used the fox's powers." Kakashi shot Jiraiya a look that conveyed mild surprise, especially when Jiraiya only nodded his head, as though he had expected such a thing. Kakashi shrugged and took out another of his books and began reading it, keeping an ear out for the conversation.

"That's good. You need to know how to draw on his powers--"

"But that's not it, Jiraiya! I used them, and they transformed into a body! A giant body, a fox's body! The_ Nine Tail's_ Body!"

Jiraiya drew back slightly in shock, causing Naruto to sink further into despair. That's why, when Jiraiya crouched in front of Naruto and drew him into a hug, he just sat there, frozen. Jiraiya drew back then, his eyes meeting surprised blue ones with a serious glint. "You were able to control the body, weren't you? The fox's powers were under your control. It doesn't matter what other people think of it--you have more power at your disposal than any ninja in history. All that matters is how you _use_ that power. If you use it to kill recklessly and destroy everything in your path, then you're no better than the demon fox sealed inside you. If you use it to protect the people important to you," hope filled Naruto's eyes at the moment, glistening with unshed tears, "then you will be one of the greatest shinobi of all time."

Naruto sat there unmoving for a few moments, his eyes glistening slightly in relief at what Jiraiya had said. Naruto took a deep breath, sniffed and wiped his eyes with his hand, relief showing in his face. "Thanks...Ero-Sennin."

Just then, a doctor pushed through the double doors, looking frazzled and upset. He took a quick glance around before motioning to Kakashi and Jiraiya, who in turn motioned to Naruto, and the four went down the hall a short distance before the doctor turned his frustrated visage to the three, hesitating only slightly before letting out a deep sigh.

Before he could open his mouth, Naruto opened his, "How's Sakura? And Sasuke? Will they be alright? He was hurt pretty badly, but he should pull through, he's _Sasuke_, right--"

Kakashi rolled his visible eye and covered Naruto's mouth in one motion, giving the doctor time to collect his thoughts. He threw a grateful look at the jounin, before composing himself. "The girl will be fine, a mild concussion and some cracked ribs--we healed those right away, and she'll be released tomorrow after observation is finished. The Uchiha, on the other hand..." Naruto's face fell. Kakashi lowered his head, having expected something like this. "He's lost a lot of blood, has severe internal injuries, and appears to have suffered from severe chakra exhaustion. Alone, we could easily treat all of these, and even combined, we should be able to keep him alive. However...in these such cases, a desire for survival is almost as important as our ability to care for the injuries. And, it seems that he is..._lacking_ this desire."

The doctor's eyes shifted back and forth from Naruto's crushed expression, Kakashi's resigned one, and Jiraiya's nodding head. Naruto's eyes began to water. _Sasuke...no!_ Tears of anguish escaped down his face, Jiraiya placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. There's nothing more we can do--" Naruto turned and ran past the ANBU guards, ignoring their protests and knocking down a third as he had moved from the other side to keep him out. He rushed over to the operating table, where Sasuke laid, covered in bandages everywhere save his eyes and mouth.

Naruto grasped Sasuke's right hand, drawing his wavering gaze to his watering eyes. "Sasuke! What the hell do you think you're doing! You...you _coward!_" several tears leaked from his eyes down his cheeks, falling onto Sasuke's bandaged arm. The ghost of a smirk crossed Sasuke's lips, before they fell back to their previous emotionless position. Sasuke turned his head away from Naruto, refusing to make eye contact. His breathing was shallow; Naruto started panicking. "Hey! Hey! Don't leave us like this, Sasuke! Kakashi took all that time to teach you his prize technique! Sakura and I fought to protect you! You can't just throw that all away! You...you _fool!_" More tears fell, landing on the sheet covering Sasuke. They were alone in the emergency room, the rest of the staff having vacated, after doing all that they could.

Sasuke turned his head to meet Naruto's eyes. His lips quirked into a small smile, and in that moment, gazing into the near pitch black orbs, Naruto saw something that he had always been searching for. Sasuke's voice whispered into the quiet of the room, "Naruto...I'm...sorry." His eyes glazed over, then shut.

End Chapter 3

In the manga, Renkuudan (Shukaku's attack) translates to Steroid Blanks. For multiple reasons, including the stupidity of the name of that attack, I'm sticking with the anime's name for it (air bullet). You may see me using stuff from both the manga and anime now, since I've read quite a bit of it. I won't, however, be using the original image of the Hyuuga seal, for example. For obvious reasons ;)

If you don't read the manga, then the reason is that it's a SWASTIKA. A Nazi SWASTIKA. Obvious enough there for you?

EDIT: Alright, its not a friggin swastika. i get it. im glad you guys enjoy the story enough to avoid commenting on it. ANYWAY--the reason it was changed was because, obviously, it _resembled_ the swastika enough to get it pulled. ALSO--i'd like to point out that, as the HYUUGA LEGACY OF HATRED, the usage of a symbol resembling a swastika is very appropriate. Think of it like this: like the symbol's original representation of yin and yang, the Hyuuga family is supposed to rely equally on the main and branch families. However, that has been changed--now, the symbol stands for hatred, persecution and everything else that the Nazi party stood for, and the Hyuuga branch family is oppressed by the main family. So, yeah. SWASTIKA.

I've also decided to keep the nickname 'Ero-Sennin', because calling him Perverted Hermit doesn't really sound great at all. Nor could I shorten it to something like 'Perv Herm' or something that sounds equally stupid, so Ero-Sennin it is.

Feel lucky that I decided against splitting this chapter up, from the point where Shukaku comes out and Naruto says, "It's just not my day." I thought that that would be a nice cliffhanger, but then I figured that I've been mean enough, keeping this from going up and such. HOPE YOU LIKED IT!


	4. Chapter 4

**HOOWAH!** I'm back! Finally! I've finished my first year of college, and with a better GPA than I thought I would have. I won't get inot that, because it's nothing to brag about, but I did get three A's in one semester for the first time EVER. Pretty nice.

So, my computer crashed AGAIN (stupid Dells) and when I re-formatted it, I found that I couldn't install either Microsoft Word OR Open Office. So, I had to write the majority of this on WordPad. It worked out well enough, since I've gotten used to it, but it took me a little while. That, and I've been annoyed with my inability to find a job--ok, not so much my inability to do so, but my parents' inability to stop nagging me to get one. To be fair, I DO sleep in 'til 1 p.m. most days, which, when you work like my parents do, must be pretty annoying. I'll find one eventually.

But, now that finals are done, I've finally found the time to finish this chapter. I'm very satisfied with it, and I think that it flows very nicely with the last couple of chapters. I'll begin working on Chapter 5 almost immediately, because I'm on a writing binge and I don't want to disappoint you guys any further. This one's a meager 5,150 words, so I hope that you aren't completely disappointed, but I hope that what's in it will more than make up for it.

For the record, I'm not doing any more disclaimers. What's the point? Does anyone seriously think that anyone looks at their story and say, wow, this person MUST own the rights to this category; why else would they be writing it for FREE on a FREE ACCESS WEBSITE? Slightly arrogant, if you think about it.

And now, without further Adeiu, I bring you:

**Chapter 4**

"**You did _what?_"**

Naruto blushed. He hadn't expected the subject of Daichi's entering the tournament to come to his wife's attention; however, the thought had slipped his mind, and he hadn't expected Sakura to bring it up after dinner. "Now, Isa, I wouldn't have entered him into that tournament if I had thought that he would get hurt!" If he thought that this would have calmed his wife, it had the opposite affect.

She placed her hands on the table where their family and their guests had eaten and where now only his wife, his former teammate, and himself still sat, having cleared away the dishes and leftovers. Her fierce countanence caused Naruto to faulter in his resolve; no matter what happened, no one could do that to him like she could. "This isn't an issue about him getting hurt! I thought that we had agreed that...I don't know--we'd keep our children away from all that! Isn't that what you wanted?" The anger in her eyes gave way to sorrow and pinned Naruto's guilt down more than her words could. Naruto let his eyes fall to the table, and Isaribi sighed and placed her right hand over Naruto's left. Naruto clasped his wife's hand in his.

Sakura sat blushing, embarrassed at having had brought up the topic in the first place. "Well...anyway, back to what we were talking about?"

Isaribi sighed again while Naruto's eyes lifted to stare blankly at the ceiling. She turned her pained gaze towards Sakura and asked, "Why are you here, exactly? I thought that when we left Konoha," Naruto's face tensed, his eyes flashing, but otherwise giving no sign that he was paying attention, "I thought that we'd be done with the whole...the whole ninja _thing_," she gestured with her free hand wildly in the air, which caused Sakura to fidget a little in her seat. "Why is it that after more than twenty years the esteemed Konoha ninja ranks suddenly need to call Naruto back into service? Mind you, he's not an active ninja. He doesn't have to listen." Isaribi glared lightly at her, and Sakura looked out the window for a moment, collecting her thoughts.

Images flashed through her mind, and she quickly shook them off. When she met the eyes of the two in front of her, nothing betrayed her inner turmoil aside from a slight glistening in her eyes. "After you left, the war escalated slightly. Not so you'd notice, but intelligence reports from that time indicated that Orochimaru began to wage war with a group by the name of Akatsuki--" Naruto's expression became more intense, and his eyes seemed to bore straight through Sakura, "and, from what we can tell, this drew on the majority of his resources for a long while, something like ten to twelve years. We determined that both Akatsuki and Orochimaru lost significant numbers, though we don't know exactly what significant means." Naruto snorted at this, and Sakura glared at him. "Hey! We only knew most of this through Jiraiya's intelligence network! And I'm sure that you among all people would know how _reliable_ that is, mostly for people like _Jiraiya!_" She crossed her arms over her chest, blushing at the thought of where she had had to go to retrieve some of this..._intelligence_.

Naruto laughed out loud, the first positive show of emotion from him all night. The tension that had pervaded since dinner had ended, loosening its grip over the room, and Isaribi gave a little half-smile. "We've known for a long time that both Orochimaru and Akatsuki want unstoppable power. It only makes sense that they'd come to blows over it."

Sakura nodded her head in agreement. "Well, from what we can tell of the time, Akatsuki was thrown into chaos shortly after the Sound invaded. We think that it had something to do with something Orochimaru had planned, but beyond that we just don't know. It's possible that Jiraiya knew something more than he wrote down, and many of us believe that the records from his intelligence network are incomplete." Naruto's brow furrowed in consideration, but Sakura didn't say anything. She could tell that he knew more than he was going to say, but she couldn't force it out of him. "Naruto, you traveled with him for years. He was your teacher for about four years. You must know something about the Sound and Akatsuki that no one else does."

Naruto leaned his elbows on the table, bridging his hands in front of his mouth, and sat quietly for a few moments. Sakura and Isaribi watched him intently as he contemplated what he had heard so far, staring hard into the table top. He had long suspected that Orochimaru had wanted to destroy Akatsuki; while traveling with Jiraiya for three years, he had learned much about both groups, and knew that Orochimaru had once been a part of the secretive organization. He had even come to suspect, along with Jiraiya, that Orochimaru had marked Sasuke as someone he had wanted to use to fight Itachi, the strongest Uchiha in centuries. Sasuke, being the only other Uchiha left at the time, would have been the only one with the raw talent to even consider taking on Itachi on even footing.

He also knew what had thrown Akatsuki into chaos; it had been him. When he had killed Gaara of the Sand, he had also destroyed the only thing holding Shukaku to this world. His spirit was no longer on this plane, and Akatsuki's plans to take each of the nine Greater Demons on this world for themselves, ruined. Orochimaru had apparently taken advantage of this and had begun to wage war on the group.

Naruto and Jiraiya had spent long hours talking about all of this. Jiraiya had told Tsunade all about the two groups once they had returned to Konoha. The two had access to much more information than he had, having been cut off from the ninja world for more than twenty years. Why, now, was Sakura here asking about what had happened? _There are only two things that would bring her here, without the knowledge of most in Konoha. Either someone outside of the Hokage's office is snooping around, or..._

Naruto brought his eyes up to meet Sakura's. She glanced away, the intensity of his gaze stunning her, overwhelmed by the storm of emotions that had blanketed his eyes so suddenly. When she was able to bring her eyes hesitantly back to meet his, he took a deep breath, before asking the question that Sakura had both been anticipating and dreading. "They're dead, aren't they?"

**Daichi lay on the roof** of his house, just outside his bedroom window, staring at the full moon, thinking about what he had learned about his father earlier that day. He could hear two of the ninja sparring, just off in the very edge of his peripheral vision, and he couldn't help but wonder if his dad had once done the same thing when he was a child. When he was Daichi's age, was he taking classes on learning how to fight? _If dad were still in Konoha, would I be in one of these teams, becoming stronger?_

Daichi was surprised to find that it annoyed him greatly that he hadn't known this about his own father. He shouldn't have been as shocked as he had been when his mother informed him of what his father used to be before dinner; wasn't this the same man who taught him how to fight? Didn't he seem to almost expect what had happened in the tournament? Daichi scowled, thinking back to what he had seen every time he had won a match. Even in the first fight, he remembered the look on his dad's face when he had gone up against the kid who was easily twice his size, and how he seemed to almost smirk when he saw how Daichi handed him a defeat quicker than you could say _mismatch_.

Daichi continued to stare up into the night sky, letting his mind wander a bit. Echoes of the spar reached his ears, and he found himself watching their movements, subconsciously studying them and seeing how they were moving. It looked like the kid with the funny eyes was beating Hoji, the boy he had beaten in the tournament to win. His style was a lot more rhythmic, more like a dance, while Hoji fought more efficiently, striking quickly and moving to evade everything he could from Hishinoi.

"Hishinoi's fighting using his family's style, the Gentle Fist. It uses the chakra of the fighter to disrupt the chakra flow of an opponent."

Daichi started, looking at her in surprise as she crouched over his shoulder. He hadn't heard the girl land on the roof behind him. She gave him a grin and said, "Hey, I'm a ninja. I have to be able to sneak up on people."

He blinked a few times, then sat up to get a better view of the spar. He thought about what she had said for a brief moment. "What do you mean, disrupt chakra flow?"

Ichiko giggled lightly before answering. "Well, every being has chakra. It's a combination of physical and mental energy that circulates throughout the body." She sounded like she as reciting a lecture, so he listened carefully lest he miss something important. "If you exhaust all the chakra in your body, then you die. Being a ninja is learning how to use it most efficiently to fight someone. With enough training, you can mold chakra to create techniques to help fight. Some of these techniques are unique to individual ninja families because of special bloodlines that are passed on from generation to generation, or are just part of a family's tradition. The Gentle Fist is one of these; it's a way of fighting that was developed by the Hyuuga family in order to take advantage of their bloodline ability."

Daichi nodded his head along with her explanation; he missed some, but Daichi thought that he caught that gist of it. "What sort of bloodline does he have? Does it have something to do with those weird eyes?"

"Well, the Hyuuga bloodline is known as the Byakuugan eye, and it allows them to see almost all around them. You can train it so that the very pathways that chakra travels through can be seen, and more easily attacked with pinpoint accuracy. It's one of the most powerful fighting styles in Konoha because of the Hyuuga eye, and many of Konoha's enemies covet those eyes for wanting to figure out how to duplicate their effect. Those eyes are one of Konoha's most closely guarded secrets."

"And here you go telling just any random farm boy my family's secrets, Ichiko."

She jumped in surprise, then blushed. Daichi had turned around so quickly, surprise written all over his face, that he almost fell from the roof. He was saved by Hoji, who had come up behind him when he turned and stood with his hand on Daichi's shoulder, steadying him on the roof. "Tch. He's obviously more than a farm boy. You were _watching_ him during our fight, weren't you?" Hoji's stress of the word indicated what he really meant, and Hishinoi glared at him before nodding stoically. Ichiko matched looks with Hoji, and for an instant he noticed how closely they resembled each other; they might have been brother and sister. Daichi glanced back and forth between the three young ninja, a slightly anxious look on his face.

"Um...w-what do you m-mean?" He stuttered, anxiety at being surrounded by the three overwhelming his inherent curiosity. They all turned to look at him, Ichiko and Hoji with surprise adorning their features--and proving their relation to Daichi, as they resembled each other too closely for it to be a coincidence--and Hishinoi in a calculating way. As much as he wanted to look away, Daichi couldn't help but meet his gaze, almost as though an inner instinct was telling him that if he were the first to look away it would cost him more than his pride.

They stared each other down for several moments before Hishinoi twitched, quickly turning to look to his teammates. A silent communication passed between them, before Hishinoi turned his white, pupilless eyes back to Daichi. "I would very much like to spar with you, right now, if you don't mind."

"**They're dead, aren't they?"**

The question echoed through Sakura's mind as she fought to maintain control over her feelings. Flashes of the attack that had taken the life of her mentor and confidant, Tsunade, swirled in her mind, adding fuel to the fire of her emotions. She couldn't bring herself to meet Naruto's eyes, looking away and nodding her head, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

Naruto felt the impact like a ton of bricks. Two of the only people he truly cared about, gone--people he had looked at like family. He kept his face stoic, hiding the pain beneath the surface, the only evidence being the tight grasping of his wife's hand. She grasped back just as tightly, tears trickling down her cheeks to fall on the table.

In all his life, of all the people Naruto had known, very few adults had ever shown him any sort of respect. He had grown up for most of his childhood without knowing a single one who wouldn't at least glare at him as he passed by, save for Old Man Hokage. There were few adults that he could actually look up to--Iruka, Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Tsunade taking up most of that list. He hadn't seen any of them for twenty years now, but it didn't lessen the pain he felt at knowing that some of his precious people were gone.

Isaribi took a deep, staggering breath. She looked away as the tears started to fall; Tsunade had been the one to help her all those years ago. _If it hadn't been for her, I would never have gotten my life back. I would never have been…_normal_ again._ A sob escaped her throat, and she clung to Naruto, who embraced her as she cried into his shoulder.

He rubbed her back as his thoughts remained on the two people he had seen almost as family. A veil of numbness had descended on his mind; a hollow emptiness echoing through his soul. For all his disagreements with the two Sannin, he had often thought of them almost like parents. It made leaving more difficult for him, but they had seemed to understand his needs in getting away from Konoha, just like a mother and father would. Of everyone aside from Isaribi, no one had understood him like they had. A tear slid down his cheek as he held his sobbing wife.

After a few minutes, Isaribi excused herself and left the room. She and her husband shared a look, and Naruto nodded after her, silently telling her that he had more to discuss. Naruto watched her leave, then turned back to face Sakura. "Tell me what happened."

Sakura sighed, wiping a few tears from her own eyes before looking up to meet Naruto's blank stare. Her voice came out flat, though her stormy eyes gave away her inner pain. "A little over a year ago, the Sound attacked again. It wasn't nearly as bad as last time, since we weren't caught completely off guard again, and we didn't lose many people before they retreated.

"However, Orochimaru infiltrated the city with a few of his strongest supporters. We don't know how they got in, but we know what they were after. Orochimaru ordered the guards to attack the strongest of Konoha's shinobi ranks--Kakashi, Maito Gai, Morino Ibiki, and Mitarashi Anko. Thankfully, no civilians were hurt, but there was a lot of property damage, Ibiki was killed, and Anko has been in a coma ever since." A smirk flittered across Sakura's face, "Iruka visits her almost every day, in the hospital. I think they were dating."

Naruto snorted, raising an eyebrow at the unlikely combination. "Wow. Really? That's not just something you and Ino came up with to spread around, is it?" He gave her a sidelong look with one of his fox grins, causing her to blush and hurl a shoe at his face. It connected with a loud THWAP! And Naruto clutched his nose as Sakura glared at him.

"Ow…alright, alright! Go on, already," Naruto said, rubbing his nose and glaring at the other shoe Sakura had prepared to throw at him.

With a "Hmmph!" Sakura put her shoe down. She looked down at the table, focusing on the finish as she contemplated how to say it. "Orochimaru targeted Tsunade and Jiraiya. Shizune was there, but she was taken down pretty quickly. She survived, and it's thanks to her that we know anything of what happened there. She said that…well, before they fought…Orochimaru, he pulled his…his f-face off. You know how he did that, that one time during the exam, right? When we faced him?" Naruto nodded an affirmative. "Shizune was behind him, so she didn't see the face. But…" Sakura clutched her hands together, looking around the room, tryiing to find something else to focus her eyes on. Her face showed the strain Sakura was going through. "...but, she saw his hair, Naruto. And she saw Tsunade and Jiraiya. They were shocked. And Jiraiya was angry. And Orochimaru said something like, 'Jiraiya, don't you have any greetings for your former student?' and then they started to fight, and she blacked out."

Sakura was crying, now. The memories of what she had felt when she had thought Naruto was dead, or worse, possessed by Orochimaru came flooding back; if it hadn't been for Ino and Shikamaru, she might've had a mental breakdown. All those people, they were practically celebrating, while the Hokage was dead. If it hadn't been for all her friends, and especially Ino and Shikamaru, she didn't know what might've happened.

Sakura felt an arm being draped over her shoulders, and look up to see Naruto's sympathetic face. She threw herself into his chest, crying as hard as his wife had been, as Naruto waited for her to settle down. Once the crying subsided, Naruto handed Sakura a handkerchief. After calming down a little, Sakura continued. "Ever since Tsunade was killed, the council has been running the village. Shizune's done her best managing the ninja corps, but attacks in Fire Country have been picking up, and we think that Orochimaru's ready to make some major moves." She breathed in deeply, lifting her eyes hesitantly from the table. "Tsunade left some documents that only a few of us have seen, mostly those that Shizune knew Tsunade would trust. They pertain to a mission, should she have been killed without naming a successor. I," she hesitated, "I was told where she knew you to have settled down, and I was supposed to find you. Naruto," Sakura paused, looking back down at the table top, "Tsunade named you to be her successor. She chose you to be the Sixth Hokage."

Naruto was shocked. Him, the hokage? He rembered how he had defended the job of Hokage to her. He had told her of how much devotion one had to have to the village, how respected one had to be to remain in the highest post in Konoha, arguably the most powerful of fire country. When he was a small child, he had dreamed of all that. He had wanted the respect, the recognition allotted to the Hokage, he desired it, he needed it--that was, before he had grown tired of the way he was treated. Could he really go back? Could he really take the position he had wanted as a boy?

_I don't want that anymore_, a voice popped up in his head. _Now, I just want peace, here with my family. I want to see my children grow up, I want to live here with nothing more to worry about than if there would be a drought this summer, or if the first frost would damage the crops._ He remembered Konoha, the place of his childhood. He remembered the looks, the barbs, the accusations from the villagers. He remembered people looking at him with distrust, with loathing, with fear and hatred. He remembered all of it. What would happen if he were to go back? Would it all start again? Would they let him protect them, or would they try to chase him out? What would they do to his family?

But if he didn't go back, then how long would it be before Konoha fell? How long until Orochimaru's people found this village? What would they do to the people living here? Whatever they would do, it was most likely a thousand times worse than what could happen in Konoha. Still, he didn't want his children to go through what he had. Naruto sighed; there was no easy decision.

**Hisninoi and Daichi panted** from opposite sides of the yard, lying down after their draining spar. The two had used up quite a bit of energy in their mock-fight, with neither being able to make any huge hits on the other. Hoji and Ichiko lightly applauded from their vantage point on the roof of the barn. Daichi gave them a grin from where he was, before propping himself up on his elbows. He blew out a breath and rolled onto his knees as Hishinoi began getting up, wobbling a bit due to exhaustion and walking over to sit on a bench next to the barn. Daichi joined him, and Hishinoi's teammates dropped from the roof to stand across from the two.

"That was amazing! I haven't seen anyone able to make you work that hard, Hishinoi!" Ichiko exclaimed, as Hoji rolled his eyes and shook his head. Ichiko glared at Hoji, before smacking him upside the head. Hoji yelped, and the two began bickering, completely ignoring the other two.

Hishinoi grunted, looking annoyed at her exclamation. "If it were a real fight, then all those hits I made on his body would have been fatal."

The comment silenced them, and caused Daichi to blush. He narrowed his eyes at the pupilless boy. "If it had been a real fight, I would have focused. Like I did against him," he nodded at Hoji, "during our fight. You don't know that you would have won," he finished.

Hishinoi narrowed his eyes, ready to refute the boy's claims, when he remembered the red chakra from the tournment and the way the boy had fought using it. It had ironed out his technique, forged him into a different fighter than the one sparring with nothing more than raw talent and basic taijutsu knowhow. Instead, he turned his pale eyes on the younger boy and asked, "How is it that you learned to fight like that?"

Daichi shrugged his shoulders and said, "My dad taught me. He showed me some of the moves and I practiced them whenever I had free time. He told me, one time, that someone had taught him those same techniques and that aside from him and his old teacher, no one else knew any of the technique."

"That would explain why I've never seen those moves before," Hishinoi mumbled, though loud enough to hear, "If your father came from Konoha like Sakura said, then most likely there would have been someone else to have used that style of fighting."

The four sat quietly for a few moments before Hoji spoke up, "Hey, didn't Sakura say that she and Naruto used to be teammates?"

"Hmm...yeah, I think so." Ichiko scratched her head, trying to remember what it was the her pink-haired teacher had spoken about on their way here. "I think she said that it was her, him and one other guy, but he was killed in the first Sound attack, and that after that they never really spoke again."

**Naruto got up and turned to Sakura**, who was watching him from the table with red-rimmed eyes. "When Sasuke died, were only kids. We may have been ninja, with all that responsibility that went along with it, but in the end, we were still only children."

Sakura blinked, sniffling back tears. She remembered how much she had cried over Sasuke, how long it took for her to get back on her feet after he had died. She even remembered how she had blamed herself for it, as if she could have beaten Gaara back then. "You beat him," She exclaimed.

Naruto gave her a confused look that made him look twelve years old again, making Sakura chuckle a little. "You beat Gaara, when you were only a kid. You were really strong," she elaborated, "You were strong enough to take on and beat one of the greater demons of this world."

Naruto's face darkened at the memory, his mind replaying parts of the fight from memory. He opened his mouth to reply, but held back; what was he supposed to say? Yeah, he was powerful enough, but there was more to being a ninja than simply power. "There's more to being a ninja than just being powerful enough to take down a strong foe. You ought to know this. Neither of us took Sasuke's death well," Naruto sighed, "and I probably took it as bad as you did. But while we were strong enough to be ninja, we weren't mentally _prepared _for everything that it meant. How many comrades do you think adult shinobi lose? It happens, and they accept it. Children shouldn't have to, and for the most part they don't. They aren't usually placed in situations where they can lose their teammates, their friends." Naruto shook his head, "We were, though. I doubt if many could have faced what we did and come out much the better for it."

The two remained in contemplative silence for a few minutes, remembering Sasuke and the days of Team 7. Naruto turned to leave the house through the kitchen door, but paused, turning his head to his old teammate, "If you guys want, you can stay the night and head out tomorrow. We have some extra futons, and the couch is always open."

Sakura gave a small smile and said, "Oh, you don't have to. We can leave tonight and make it back before morning."

One of Naruto's trademark fox grins adorned his face as he replied, "Hey, it's no problem at all. It's not often we get guests around here, and I'll be damned if I let you guys out into the woods this time of night." With that, he left through the door and went outside. He had a lot of thinking to do.

**Isaribi walked out onto the porch**, stopping right next to the seat her husband was sitting in, staring aimlessly into the night sky. She looked at his face, tracing her eyes over his high cheekbones and masculine jawline, his 5 o'clock shadow and narrow nose, his strong forehead and deep, sky blue eyes. She stared into them for a few minutes before she noticed that they were staring back; she smiled, and he smiled back, reaching up and dragging her onto his lap. She giggled, giving him a kiss as he wrapped his arms around her and returned it passionately.

When their kiss ended, she continued to gaze deeply into his eyes, the eyes that hadn't changed a day since she had first met him; they still held that overwhelming fervor, the complete and utter devotion to what was important to him that first made her fall in love with him. She smiled, and said, "How did your talk go?"

Naruto gave a small smile of his own, before leaning forward and kissing his wife on the nose. "It was good."

Isaribi crinkled her nose at his explanation, drawing back a little, the smile still playing in her eyes. "Good? What do you mean, good?"

He grinned, though not at his usual intensity. "I mean, well, we talked. And it was good, you know? She was like family to me, Isa."

She smiled, giving him a hug. "That's good."

"Isn't that what I said?" He smirked.

Isaribi playfully swatted his arm as she moved around to lean her back against his chest. Naruto put his arms around her stomach and she laid her head back against his shoulder. They sat in silence together, gazing at the thousands of stars winking throughout the night sky in peace.

Naruto sighed, and looked down to find his wife staring intently into his eyes. "There was more, wasn't there?"

He nodded, though didn't immediately respond. Naruto pursed his lips, then frowned, then let out a growl. Isaribi raised an eyebrow, and Naruto huffed. "That damn fox was right! I'll _never _be free of being a ninja."

Isaribi smiled, then grinned, then laughed, causing Naruto to turn his frown to her. She chuckled lightly before wrapping her arms around his shoulders and sighing.

She lay with her head against his shoulder, his arms around her for several moments. Naruto had begun drifting off before she nudged him. "Hmm?" He mumbled.

"I'd like to go. To Konoha. I want to...pay my respects. To Tsunade, and Jiraiya."

Naruto tightened his arms around Isaribi, nodding his head. She continued, "I want to show them our children. I want them to see how our lives have turned out, and I want to thank them, for everything. For you, for me, for _us_."

Naruto blinked away tears, nodding his head fervently in agreement. "I'd like that. And...Daichi, he could go to the ninja academy. He'd like that, you know, and he'd be really good--you should have seen him! I barely taught him the basics, but he took it and ran with it! I think that he could be a great ninja. Better even than me!" He grinned, and Isaribi chuckled lightly and turned her head forward. She snuggled into Naruto, and the two sat for hours until the darkness drew back and the stars faded to the light of the rising sun.

Questions? Comments? Reviews? All of the above? For the record, I love my beta, who just constantly gives me praise and inflates my ego. Thanks, babe, not much else I can say, cuz if I didn't have someone for that, I'd probably be all depressed and EMO-y and write all angst-y and depressing stuff that no one _really_ wants to read.

Seriously, though. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope to get another couple of chapters done by the end of June. The one thing I hate about writing fanfiction is how long it takes to write sometimes. It helps that I know where I want the next 2 chapters to go, and beyond that I have a vague idea, so all of you, keep reading, cuz I'll keep writing!

Adios,

DarkSov


	5. Chapter 5

So, yeah. Remember how i said that _thing_ about me updating twice last month? funny how life works out...i actually threw out my back a week ago, and that kept me from even being able to finish up this little diddy before the end of the month. oh well, i hope you enjoy.

**Chapter 5**

"Damn it! How the hell did they convince me to come out here again!"

Naruto draped his traveling cloak over his shoulder half hazardly, wiping his brow of the sweat gathering there under the high noon sun. The heat beat down on his bare head, making him regret shaving it once more of his usual blonde locks. Naruto cursed the situation that created the need for him to be as discrete as possible; where it was before to keep from being recognized by anyone, now it was to keep from being recognized by the wrong people. Sakura had cautioned him several times, nagging at him almost like she used to when they were kids on the importance of maintaining secrecy. He remembered her warnings just before he left, the last instructions she gave him before his send off:

"_If the wrong people find out too soon that you're back, you'll have given them critical time to organize against you. At this point, anyone smart enough could figure out why you're here, and plenty of those smart people were just as happy to see you gone from Konoha as you were," she repeated yet again. "If you're going to be able to accept the job of Hokage, then it's absolutely essential that no one know that you've returned. Understand? Once you gain the title of Hokage, there won't be anything they can do to stop you, short of starting a civil war." _

"_Tell me howwe know they won't do that, again?" Naruto scowled at Sakura, causing her to roll her eyes. She didn't respond, choosing not to acknowledge that possibility; while she adamantly refused the chance of that happening, Naruto could tell from the worried look in her eyes that life was about to become even more difficult than he could ever imagine._

Naruto was just sorry that his blonde hair had had to pay the price of secrecy.

He was only a few miles away now, almost shuffling his feet in anticipation. His mind acutely aware of everything that was sure to happen when he returned, Naruto could only be thankful that his family was going to be spared the trouble he was going to go through.

Thankful to Sakura, that is, which he was sure that she'd never let him live down, as it was her who had thought up the best excuse for his family's moving to Konoha. They were going under cloak of being refugees from the devastated grass country, yet more victims of an attack from Sound. Their moving to Konoha was being attributed to the son's apparent skill in fighting and his desire to become a ninja. He knew what to expect upon his return to Konoha; at best, there would be only a little resistance to his becoming Hokage, but realistically, Naruto expected a lot of open protest. It was really for the best that no one knew of his family; he doubted that they would be safe if anyone found out.

Sakura had given him a list of the people who could be trusted to support him. The list was rather short; Aside from Shizune and Sakura, who knew the full details of her mission, Kakashi and Iruka, his old teachers, mostly only old classmates were included. While some had risen to significant and influential positions, they could only do so much, and it was important to make them aware of his return as swiftly as possible.

Naruto tried to think of how he would go about reintroducing himself to all his old comrades. What sort of welcome back could he expect? He had, for all intents and purposes, abandoned them. He didn't know how many of them knew about the Kyuubi, but it was likely that at least a few of them did. If they knew, would they look at him differently? Would the see him in a different light? Would they understand why he left?

Would they fear him?

Naruto sincerely hoped that they didn't fear him.

A hand stopped his walking, causing Naruto to look up in surprise. A man in the standard vested uniform of a Konoha chuunin stood in the way of his progress into the village. Naruto blinked and looked around. He silently cursed himself for becoming distracted enough to not notice his arrival at the giant gates. Some ninja he was! Though, granted, he hadn't been one for several years. He pasted a huge smile onto his face, and watched as the guard standing in front of him relaxed. "Ah, sorry, sorry! I was distracted."

The guard nodded, his eyes not leaving Naruto's. "Name and business, please."

Naruto answered without a moment's hesitation, "Homura Akito, I'm a businessman from the Wave country. I need to hire some ninja to protect a trade caravan to the capitol of Fire Country next month." He grinned as the guard nodded, and proceeded to instruct him on the best way to find the building where he could submit the mission request.

Naruto left, waving as the shinobi returned to their guard stations. He looked around, playing the part of the curious visitor, at the same time reacquainting himself with his former home. He could feel the wistful memories being dragged forth in his mind, of his lonely childhood and early years as a ninja. He walked past an old weapons shop that had once refused him service. He walked past an old restaurant that had once refused to serve his team, for obvious reasons. He walked past a park where, one time, he had been walking through on a gorgeous day, before noticing the parents that were quickly taking their children and leaving upon noticing him.

_I wonder if people will just leave if I become Hokage?_

Naruto and his inner thought processes were stopped dead as his mind focused on a chakra resonance. He recognized it, turning down an alleyway, then another, following his senses to the source. He popped out into a street and followed it until he ran into one of the village's training areas. Looking around and not noticing anyone watching him, he leapt over the fence and onto a tree branch.

Jumping from tree to tree, he could feel himself getting closer and closer. Suddenly, he came upon a clearing where he found three children sitting in a semicircle—two boys and a girl--obviously waiting for someone, and if the looks on their faces were any indication, he knew who it was they were waiting for. The girl especially seemed annoyed with having to wait, if the scowl on her face was any indication.

Right then, Naruto saw something flicker out of the corner of his eye. He twisted around, catching the kunei a scant inch from his neck, flinging it back in the same direction. He looked around for the source of the weapon only to find two more hurling at him from different directions; he leaped high and took out one of his own before dodging several shuriken that were thrown in his direction. Naruto landed upside down underneath a tree branch, taking a moment to check around for the hiding place of his attackers, before grinning and moving his hands into a familiar hand seal.

"Shadow Clone Technique!" There were now three Narutos, each one holding a kunei with an identical grin on its face. All of them dashed off into separate directions, dodging weapons and tree branches as the need arose.

The Narutos rushed through the forest and dodged weapons until, suddenly, all three stopped, each one holding a kid by the collar of their necks. The three young ninja shared identical looks of shock on their faces, while the three Narutos all had the same smug look across their faces. The three jumped and landed in the clearing, carrying the same three children as the ones still waiting obliviously in the open. It was then that the aforementioned person that the children were waiting for decided to make his tardy appearance.

He stepped out of the woods, reading a small book with one hand and blushing at the same time. He walked over to the waiting students and with a glance dispelled the obvious genjutsu, causing moans to emit from the mouths of the three students. He continued on until he was face to face with the three Narutos before turning on the one to his left, "Would you mind releasing my students?"

The real Naruto grinned before dropping the girl he was holding, and then dispelling the other two clones. The three disgruntled children glared at him before walking back to the center of the clearing, muttering to themselves. Naruto watched them go, and then turned to consider his old teacher.

Kakashi looked exactly the same as he had last he saw him--same outfit, same silver hair, same covered eye, even the same choice in literature; he even _giggled_ the same, perverted way--and, like everyone else, Naruto couldn't help but feel the same old feelings of disgust at his choice of literature. He finished the page he was on and put the book away, a light telltale blush across his cheeks, then turned towards his charges. "So, can anyone tell me why the ambush failed?"

The three kids all blushed and looked away, before one of them mumbled a response. "We didn't expect to have to fight three real targets. We figured they were clones…" the girl said, glaring at Naruto. "Those weren't clones."

Naruto grinned. Before he could respond, another Kakashi suddenly appeared behind the girl and leaned on her with his hand on her head. She swatted him away, then gasped when he exploded in a cloud of smoke, the same way Naruto's clones had. Kakashi put his book away, turning to his students with a serious expression on what little of his face could be seen. He leaned forward with his hands on his hips and began lectured, "I know the Shadow Clone technique as well. It does more than duplicate the appearance of its user; it creates a physical body, imbued with its own chakra. The drawback is that it divides the user's chakra equally between each of the clones made and the original, and until the shadow clones are dispelled, that chakra is unusable." The kids nodded along, though the girl continued to send glares Naruto's way.

"Also, if the clone is maintained too long and the user's chakra reserves are allowed to be rebuilt, then once the clone is dispelled, the possible overflow of chakra can be fatal. And, since it involves the creation of a physical body that is free of the command of the user, the perception is given to each clone that it is the original. For all these reasons, the Shadow Clone technique is labeled as a Kinjutsu, a forbidden technique." Kakashi drew back and folded his arms over his chest. "Now that you understand why you've been beaten today, I have a mission for the three of you."

The kids stood up, obviously excited for the escape from regular training. They leaned forward in anticipation as Kakashi cleared his throat. "Your mission…" they leaned forward more, "is to…"

The girl threw her arms up in disgust and said, "Oh, enough, already! Just tell us the mission!" The boys rolled their eyes but didn't argue; _This is obviously a normal occurrence_, Naruto thought.

Kakashi cleared his throat again and nodded his head. "Ah, sorry, sorry. Alright, your mission is…" he quickly whipped out from behind his back a paint brush in one hand and a can in the other, "To paint the Hokage Tower!"

Naruto swallowed down a laugh and bit his cheek as the kids stared, dumbfounded at the objects in Kakashi's hands. After a few seconds, the girl scowled at Kakashi before stomping off in the direction of the building while the boys, grabbing the objects and rolling their eyes, made to follow her. Kakashi and Naruto watched them walk away. Once Naruto was sure that they were out of the training area, he turned back to his old teacher, only to find that he was back to reading his book. He swatted at the book, grinning as Kakshi pulled it back and mock-glared at him before putting it away.

"Ahh, if there's one thing that hasn't changed in all these years, it's that I can never find enough time to read!" Kakashi practically growled. Naruto chuckled, earning a dark glare from his former teacher. "So. What are you here for? I thought that you were never going to return?" His serious tone was offset by one of his eyebrows being raised high and the corners of his one visible eye crinkling, betraying a smile under Kakashi's infamous mask. Naruto glanced around, before motioning for his teacher to follow him. He leaped onto a branch of a nearby tree, then up higher towards the top, where he could see more of the surrounding area while remaining fairly well hidden. Kakashi soon joined him, giving him a dubious look.

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Ah…yeah, about that…." He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Well, funny story, really. I entered my son into a fighting tournament to see what sort of bloodline limit he had developed. You know, because of my…tenant." Naruto paused, continuing once Kakashi gave a nod of understanding. "Well, it turns out that Sakura had entered one of her own genins to try and find out if it was my kid in the tournament and to try and find me to get me to come back. But you already knew about that didn't you?" A sly look crossed Naruto's face, causing Kakashi to chuckle. "Yeah, anyway. I decided to come back to lend my expert ninja skills to the defense of this village, for whatever insane reason."

Naruto turned his face away, but not before Kakashi could catch a glimpse of _something_ betrayed in his eyes. _Concern? Worry? For whom? _Kakashi's quick mind went to work. On the outside, his facade betrayed nothing of his inner workings.

The two stood there in silence for a while, before Kakashi broke it. "Hmm. So, Hokage, then, is it? You know, it may be more difficult than you were led to believe."

Naruto looked at Kakashi, then away again. "Yeah, I know, aside from all the villagers who will probably be less than pleased--"

"Naruto, it's more complicated than that!" Kakashi interrupted. Naruto glanced in surprise at his usually lackluster teacher's serious face. "There have been certain…decisions…made, on account of the village being without a hokage for the last year. You are aware that many of the duties that were the hokage's, in regards to the running of this village, have been turned over to the Council?" At Naruto's nod, he continued. "That's not all of it. The council didn't just take over certain parts of the job, they took _formal_ control. It's been amended into the village's charter, that the Council has replaced the hokage as the supreme power over the civilian sector and holds its authority over off-duty ninja personnel." Naruto stared, dumbfounded. Kakashi sighed; the worst was yet to come.

"Naruto, that's not even what's most important of all the changes that have been made. This is what will offer to you the greatest of challenges, if you wish to take the _appropriate_ title of hokage, instead of the puppet role instituted by the Council." At Naruto's confused look, Kakashi elaborated. "The hokage is to answer to the Council. That means that if you were to take the position, you would be under the Council's authority."

Naruto turned this information over in his mind, thinking about how he could get around it. The Council was supposedly compiled of the clan leaders of Konoha and others elected democratically by the civilians, meant to share equally in an advisory position to the hokage. The hokage was supposed to take the Council's word as representative of the people, and make decisions with that in mind. In truth, the Council was easily dominated by the clan leadership. While many of the past hokages had acquiesced to the Council's decisions, Tsunade had thrown that tradition out the window. No doubt, the Council had taken the opportunity of the absence of a sixth hokage to make sure that their will would always be followed through, and that no one would be able to flout their authority again.

Naruto contemplated this roadblock. It was indeed far more difficult than he had expected; it appeared as though the council at least had an inkling as to who Tsunade had in mind for her successor. "This does indeed complicate things, Kakashi," Naruto responded blandly. "It appears that I have been forced into a corner before I have even presented myself. I have been left with two choices. I can submit myself to the Council's consideration, where I no doubt will be forced to endure their ill will and may, eventually, find myself with the title of hokage." Naruto blinked, meeting Kakashi's eyes. Kakashi could see the smoldering anger that thought left building inside of him.

"I can become the legitimate hokage, with the Council's _blessings_. They won't dispute that I am the strongest ninja here. I know far more than any other shinobi in the village, despite my early _retirement_. However, the title would hold little meaning, as I would be forced to make decisions according to what the Council desires of me. Right?" Kakashi nodded. Naruto narrowed his eyes and scowled in distaste. "I won't be doing that, not any time soon. I won't submit myself to the lordship of those _people_. I know that the Council was unanimous in campaigning to have me executed for many years after the Kyuubi was sealed inside of me. I have no delusions about what would inevitably happen. Eventually, they would decide to have me sent on a suicide mission of some sort, and I would have to face treason or follow through, most likely never to return."

Kakashi continued to nod his agreement, internally surprised at how smart Naruto had become since he had last known him. Was this a result of some weird mental condition brought on by the constant presence of the Kyuubi in his subconscious? Kakashi jokingly considered the possibility of it being the result of maturity. Naruto, mature? The mere thought nearly forced him to collapse in uncontrollable laughter; the only thing stopping him was the presence of his former student to witness the event and the probability that he would never hear the end of it.

Naruto continued, unaware of the thought process going on inside his old teacher's head. "I'm not the kind of person who will wait for years on end only to be forced into committing treason. If I must betray something, it might as well be now, when they least expect it, right?"

Kakashi was caught nodding his agreement before the full impact of the words hit him, making him freeze in shock. He forced words out of his mouth against his better judgment, as though saying anything would acknowledge the necessity of the actions. "Are you suggesting that you want to…_overthrow_ the Council?" The words sounded just as crazy to Kakashi's ears as they had inside his mind. Naruto only grinned wickedly in response to the statement. His smile quickly turned into as sincere a regrettable look as Kakashi had ever seen adorn the whiskered visage.

"Kakashi, the only way we'll be able to survive against Orochimaru is to stand strong against him. I remember one of the lessons Jiraiya taught me when we were training, one of the days that he was incensed with how little of our history I knew." He grinned sheepishly at Kakashi's withering look. "Well, in my defense, Iruka never did have a flare for making those lessons entertaining. He told me once that he never found them interesting himself!" Kakashi just shook his head and sighed in exasperation. Naruto continued, his face turning serious.

"The Council has always pressed for the clans to gain more power in the infrastructure of Konoha. The elders of the clan leadership have long had aspirations for a _purer_ ninja corps, dominated by what they see as more _worthy_ ninjas--from their own clans, of course--to fill the ranks. They are so obsessed with their own supposed greatness that they have become narrow-minded. If Konoha survives this war under their leadership, then it will surely be destroyed by their bigotry and disdain for the common man." He paused, thinking about his own childhood, and how the ignorance of others ledhim to struggle for so long. "No, such a leadership I will not allow to maintain power--not while I'm here, and not while my fam--" He stopped, looking flustered at the slip but quickly recovering. "Look, if this village is going to survive, then the Council cannot continue to be in any sort of position of power. The clans must be put under the same authority as everyone else in this village."

Kakashi didn't show any reaction at the slip, but filed it away for future reference. _A family, eh? That explains why he'd bother coming back, instead of leaving the village to its own destruction. _On the outside, he continued to look considerate of Naruto's ideas, though he had already come to a similar conclusion. Was Naruto strong enough to fight the Council? It was clear that he wouldn't be doing it politically. What he was saying was that he would be forced to battle the leaders of the clans, some of the most powerful ninja in the village. And, if he were to win, then he'd need support to follow through on rebuilding the government of the village. He'd need ninja that would stand by him and risk treason to fight. Kakashi had an idea on where to start, but first…a little test. "Well, Naruto, your idea is sound. I'm almost convinced that it's the best way. _Almost_. First," he drawled, as Naruto listened attentively. "First, I need you to prove something to me. I need you to prove that you can complete…"

Kakashi slipped his hand into his pocket, fumbling for something he always kept there. Naruto watched attentively as he considered what it could be. _Prove something? What would I have to prove to Kakashi? My loyalty to the village? What could it be?_

Suddenly, Kakashi whipped his hand out, holding it in front of Naruto's face, displaying in front of him something Naruto hadn't seen in more than 20 years. "…the bell test!"

Hahaha...bell test. Will he pass? Will he fail? WHO KNOWS? I SURE DON'T!

Ok, maybe I do. we'll see.

Oh, and I bet that NO ONE will believe what sort of music I've been listening to while writing this. I'll give Kudos if anyone can guess!

DarkSov


	6. Chapter 6

Hold up, it's been—wait for it—9 months!!! YES!!! And I wrote all this in two hours. Well, I listened to a song on youtube, and the accompanying music video inspired me. What can I say? I know this is only 2700 words, but give me a break—or, don't. Whatever you want.

Oh, and the answer to the music I was listening to, for those who are interested—Pokemon. Songs from the pokemon show soundtrack, and also from the first movie. Yeah.

I can go on and on about how it's been nearly impossible to write and blah blah I joined a fraternity and blah blah no time to write but no one really wants to hear it. So, on with the show!

**Chapter 6**

**Kakashi stared at Naruto's face**, waiting for him to react. When the idea for the bell test had popped into his head, he remembered the first time he had submitted team 7 to the bell test. He chuckled in his mind as the images of Naruto tied to the tree, Sakura fainting, and Sasuke being buried to his neck in the ground flowed through his memory. _Ah, the good old days..._

However, Naruto continued to stare at the bells as if he were in a trance. His eyes were glassy, and Kakashi could tell that he was reflecting on some of the same things he had been. Was he remembering the unending competition he held with his old teammate? The rivalry that more often than not dissolved into childish name calling? Training together and getting stronger? Or, the day that the rivalry came to its tragic end?

Kakashi stared in sympathy as he remembered his own reaction to the news of the fight with the one-tailed demon, Shukaku. When he had seen Gaara being taken away by his teammates during the invasion, and then saw Sasuke going after him, he had known that unless Sasuke was stopped, Gaara—and the demon inside of him—would kill him. He had had Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru, the genin from Asuma's team 10, try and intercept Sasuke before he caught up with the sand team. When he heard that Sasuke was hospitalized, he had known that they had been too late, but not until he had seen Sasuke for himself had he realized his own audacity in preparing Sasuke for the fight. He realized too late that a genin can't be taught to fight on the same level as a demon, and if Naruto had been even a few minutes later, Sasuke would have died at the whim of the mad Shukaku. He had felt the pain of utter failure once again, a pain he hadn't felt since the day he had failed Obito.

Kakashi then was brought back to reality by a strange sensation he could feel in the perimeters of his conscious—a chakra signature? _Coming quickly_, his mind raced. He turned his head to the side to see what he could behind him. _They can't find Naruto here, or else_—

Suddenly, the signature was gone—just blinked out of existence as fast as a—he turned to see Naruto grinning his fox-like grin, holding the two bells by his fingers—_a shadow clone_. He groaned to himself mentally, while outside he showed no signs of the irritation he felt at being upstaged by his formal pupil.

Naruto continued grinning for a solid minute before Kakashi got bored and once again flipped out his copy of Icha-Icha Romance. Naruto's grin faltered, before descending into a scowl, and quickly his impatience got the better of him and he whipped the bells back at his old teacher. Kakashi caught them effortlessly, then closed the book, putting back in his pocket. "Right. As I was saying, before you took the bells, wait for me to say _start_—"

"Hey! I don't think so! I got those fair and square!"

"—if you had waited for me to explain the rules, then you would have known that the test starts when I _say_ start. So..." He waited as Naruto tried to burn holes through his skull with the force of his glare until his anger diminished to a simmer, "Begin!"

With that, Kakashi exploded into smoke, his own shadow clone dissolving. Naruto rolled his eyes, then focused his mind, searching for the familiar feel of Kakashi's chakra—_there, he's back at the clearing_. Naruto leaped from branch to branch, stopping as he got close enough to see Kakashi in the clearing.

Kakashi leaned back against his chosen tree, reading the last masterpiece of his teacher's teacher, basking in the warmth of the setting sun. A sigh escaped his mouth as he reminisced about the old pervert—_a man to honor for his love of voyeurism!_ he remarked to himself. At the same time, he kept himself aware of Naruto's own signature, as it approached his own from their previous location. He sighed as he felt it stop, then rush forward into the clearing. His gaze flashed upward from his novel and considered his old student. "No subterfuge?"

Naruto shrugged. "Well, what can I say—sneaking up on people isn't my thing."

Kakashi almost choked on the laughter, forcing himself to remain outwardly calm. Naruto's smirk told him all he needed to know. He kept his glassy-eyed gaze on Naruto, whose smirk turned into that fox grin of his.

"You've known me for a long time, Kakashi—when have I ever been the subterfuge type? Oh, sure, I can trick people just fine, but I've never been the patient sort." Naruto cricked his neck to both sides, feeling the satisfying pop he had grown accustomed to.

Kakashi sighed, putting his book back in his pocket. _I really need to find some quiet time to read to myself_. He stood up, knowing what was coming. "So, then, a straight up fight, then?'

To Kakashi's surprise, Naruto shook his head. "Most of my ninjutsu is too flashy for that sort of fight. People would notice. ANBU would be all over this clearing in a minute. So, I propose a taijutsu match—clones included, they're not too flashy."

Kakashi rolled his eyes again. "Naruto, even when you clone yourself, you're flashy."

Naruto chuckled. "Well, alright, no clones."

Kakashi blinked, then whipped out a kunai from the pouch on his leg. "Alright then—begin!"

Kakashi began the fight by surging forward and swinging his kunai at Naruto. Naruto leaped back, grabbing and throwing a few shuriken at his old teacher. Kakashi leaped up, dodging the shuriken and following Naruto's retreat. They met kunai several times, before separating and landing on different sides of the clearing.

"Well, I see that you've been keeping in shape, at least," Kakashi remarked, his easy tone belying his ready stance.

Naruto smirked. "Actually, I haven't. You'd be surprised at how far that bastard fox will go to preserve its sorry ass—far enough to keep me from going cold, at least."

Kakashi blinked in surprise. The fox kept him in shape? His eyes narrowed in thought. Was it really just the Kyuubi's desire to preserve itself, or did Naruto have more to do with it than he let on?

Suddenly, Naruto rushed forward, hurling his kunai at Kakashi. Kakashi blocked it, before parying another kunai from Naruto. They held even, pushing against each other through their weapons, then both leaping back to their previous positions. Naruto smirked again, then brought his hands together into his familiar seal for the Shadow Clone Technique. Kakashi glared at Naruto, wondering what he was doing. "No clones, Naruto," he said.

Naruto's smirk didn't waver. "Oh, no, don't worry, I'm not making clones. I want to show you a new technique I developed, during one of my training trips with Jiraiya." His vertical fingers curled until they were pointing down, and Kakashi could feel the chakra pulse within Naruto. "I call it—the Shadow Arms Technique!"

There was an explosion, and smoke covered Naruto's body as if he had made a clone. Then, it dissipated, leaving Kakashi shocked, though he hid it well. While Naruto's arms remained in the seal position, two extra pairs of arms extended from his upper arms. Suddenly, Kakashi understood what had happened; rather than creating a full clone, somehow he had created only a part of it—or two its, in this case—and had attached the arms to his own body. He watched as they flexed, and observed that Naruto apparently had full control over the arms. Well, this is different. He had absolutely no idea what to do now.

Naruto didn't give him time to consider it—as soon as the smoke cleared, he rushed at Kakashi, kunai appearing in all four of his hands. Kakashi had to use almost his full abilities at dodging and blocking to avoid getting skewered, and he was still being nicked. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him—if shadow clones dissipated when struck hard enough, then these arms should react the same way.

Naruto observed Kakashi as he continued to dodge the majority of the strikes, then raised his eyebrows as Kakashi suddenly switched tactics on him faster than he could react; after all, these weren't his _real_ arms. He scowled as Kakashi quickly disabled his arms, then pinned him against a tree with a knife at his throat.

Kakashi fought to hold back his smirk. "Well, Naruto, I'll admit that you've improved, but you still—" His words froze in his throat as he looked down at his wrist—at the hand holding it, and pushing it away from Naruto's body. It sprouted outward from Naruto's own chest, and Kakashi immediately realized his error.

Naruto's smirk quickly returned as arms burst outward to latch onto Kakashi's legs and arms, holding him in place. Arms struck out from his chest and legs, and he even grew one out to pat Kakashi's cheek in mock sympathy. "There, there, Kakashi. You didn't think that that was all to it, did you? I can reform arms from any part of my body as long as I hold this seal," he motioned down to his hands, "I only created the four arms to make you think that that was all it could do. And, there's something else about it that you haven't seen yet..."

Kakashi watched as Naruto grew an arm out from one of the cloned arms clutching his leg, and as it reached up to grab the bells affixed to his belt. The arm threw them up, and Naruto grabbed it with his own hand—his real hand—and the cloned arms all popped out of existence once again, leaving Naruto holding the bells in his right hand. He smirked again at his old teacher. "They don't call me the number one ninja at surprising people for nothing!"

Kakashi stared at Naruto for a few more seconds, then sighed and scratched his head. He mused at his old student's old ability to overcome obstacles like these, and his ingenuity. "How did you come up with that one?"

Naruto grinned, "Well, it was all my idea!"

Kakashi blinked, and stared at Naruto. His grin faltered, then turned into a scowl. Kakashi continued staring at him until Naruto cracked. "Ok, ok! Jeez, I accidentally sneezed once while trying to perform the Shadow Clone Technique. I had half a clone sticking out of my stomach. I'd rather not go into much more than that." Kakashi grinned behind his mask; this was the Naruto he knew. "Well, it was while Jiraiya was teaching me the Rasengan that I realized that creating a whole clone wasn't really necessary; I just needed an extra arm or two to form it. So, I practiced it for a while, and then I finally figured out how to mold new arms and create a fully functional Rasengan using just the Shadow Arms!"

Kakashi mulled it over in his mind, quickly coming to a snag. "But wouldn't you need to build the Rasengan using on of your real arms as a base? Wouldn't the chakra overload a clone's arm?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, on a real shadow clone, it would. I tried that one out, once—woke up two days later. Jiraiya said that he had to spend four hours pulling splinters out of my back, the explosion propelled me right through a bunch of trees. Anyway, when I tried to make it using the clone arms, it worked perfectly—after I'd done it enough, of course. Jiraiya almost had a heart attack when I showed him, too—he expected me to blow myself up!" Naruto laughed. "But, it turns out that since the arms are attached to my own body and my own chakra, that they have a much higher breaking point, and they can create and maintain a technique as demanding as the Rasengan. Stronger, too."

Kakashi nodded along, then paused, considering what Naruto had said. "...stronger...stronger than the Rasengan, you mean?"

Naruto nodded, smirking again. "Oh, yeah. Jiraiya told me about how the Rasengan is an incomplete technique. The Fourth didn't have the ability to mix it with his own elemental affinity—I was able to take it to the next level!"

Kakashi stared at Naruto in complete shock, then sank to the ground. _The next level?_ He remembered the Fourth's discussion on his creation of the Rasengan quite vividly; it had led him to create the Chidori, after all.

"_There are two methods to the manipulation of chakra: the manipulation of the nature of your chakra, and the manipulation of the form of you chakra. Manipulating the nature is quite easy; in fact, you don't even have to have the affinity of the element you're manipulating, though it is a bit harder. For example, Kakashi," he nodded to his mask wearing student, "you have an affinity for lightning," the Fourth lifted up a crinkled piece of paper, "and you should have relatively little difficulty mastering lightning element ninjutsu. You can still master others—fire, water, earth, and wind—but they will be significantly more difficult. _

"_Manipulating the form is similar to manipulating the nature of your chakra, but it differs in that it relies on controlling your chakra as pure chakra, rather than as your own affinity. Clones are made using form manipulation. And, unlike having an affinity for an element, manipulating the form of your chakra requires only concentration; there's no affinity for it, persay, but there are those that are better at concentrating it than others. I, for example, have a wind affinity," He lifted up a paper that had been neatly sliced in half. _

"_Now, the development of unique techniques for an individual shinobi is considered a right of passage; it's not a requirement for becoming a jounin, but those without having developed their own techniques do not tend to succeed as much, for the development of one's own jutsu brings one to closer understanding one's own chakra—more than just its nature, or your affinity, or your ability to control it, but how it is a part of you. You communicate with it. And, if you're lucky, it will even communicate with you._

"_Developing your own techniques is something that is extremely difficult, because it requires a certain understanding of how your chakra works. It also requires a controlled release of that chakra into a technique of some kind, and the development of your own techniques isn't done until you've been able to perfect the use of your chakra to get the greatest possible result from the chakra you've input. An example of this," the Fourth put out his hand, and in it formed a familiar swirling ball of chakra, "is my _Rasengan_. It is the result of my taking the manipulation of the form of my chakra to its absolute greatest point—a concentrated ball of spinning chakra so powerful that it can carve out a holw in a mountain simple by my pushing it forward." _

_He withdrew his hand, the ball dissipating. "However, it is incomplete. The greatest accomplishment in creating a technique is to be able to mix your manipulation of the form with your manipulation of the nature of your chakra. In this, I have failed; I was ever able to mix in my wind affinity to create a greater technique. That's not to say that the Rasengan is any less than what it is, but it could be so much more..."_

Kakashi stared in growing shock at Naruto's smirk. _Had he..._ "Are you telling me that...you've completed the—"

"The Rasen Shuriken—the Wind Spiral Shuriken. There is nothing that I've come across that can stop its power; it is truly the perfection of the Fourth's technique. I created it as a tribute to him, but my own affinity is not solely that of wind. Thanks, I think, to my _tenant_," he patted his stomach, "I also hold an affinity for fire. And, I perfected my own technique that uses both wind and fire." Naruto smirked at the awe-struck expression on Kakashi's face. "By compressing the two forms of chakra into the swirling chakra of the Rasengan, I can build up such a pressure that the resulting explosion will level a mountain. Several, in fact—you can visit the northwest frontier of Earth Country to find out for yourself, if you want."

END

Ok, at the end, well, that's the truth--as far as I can write it. If you haven't, or don't, read the manga (which is now at 345 chapters), then that explanation is all you got. I think it's enough, but if it's not, then (if anyone cares to review--I honestly won't hold it against you guys not to, after this wait) I'll fill in whatever holes there are in the next chapter.

Preview of the next chapter? I'm hoping to focus on Naruto's family moving to Konoha, but that was what got me stuck in the first place, so we'll figure it out, hopefully.

DarkSov


	7. Chapter 7

Well, this certainly took less time than the Chapter 6! But, then, I think it would be just a tidbit unreasonable to make you guys wait that long again. Right? Maybe. Anyway, I dedicate this chapter to Zoorzh, whose enthusiastic exclamation at my lack of abandonation prompted me to grin happily for almost a full twenty minutes while I worked on a good portion of this thing. You all have him to thank for this being what it is, instead of some significantly poorer version submitted several weeks later.

Anyway, this is the first part of a flashback chapter. I also have some omake at the end--a bit of Harry Potter stuff for those interested. It's something that makes me chuckle. I had to!

Chapter 7

Naruto pushed through the simple village marketplace, doing his best not to jostle any of the heavy packages some of the people were carrying. He watched as several children chased a dog through the busy street, and as vendors and shopkeepers yelled at them for disturbing their customers. He dodged another small child, a girl, and reached forward and caught her by the collar of her shirt, pulling her back to him. She looked at him in fright, and several people nearby turned to eye the upcoming exchange warily.

Naruto held out his hand and, raising an eyebrow, said "I believe that that froggy wallet is _mine._" He eyed her as she struggled for a few moments, then sighed and gave him it back.

He took it in his hand and unzipped it with his teeth, then, letting her collar go, he grabbed a few hundred Ryu from the huge wad within. She watched in amazement as he held the bills out to her, then reached out a thin, shaking hand to take it, watching him as though he were going to attack her. Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes, "Well, you look like you can use it more than I can."

She jumped, then, looking around as though someone was going to claim that she had taken something else, grabbed the money and ran into a nearby alley. Naruto watched as her thin body, covered in little more than dirty rags, disappeared into the shadows of the alley, shaking his head. This village, like every village, despite its apparent success, had the ever present vestiges of poverty clinging to its fringes, and Naruto couldn't help but always noticing—all the children, their hungry faces pleading for help, the parents grieving for their inability to provide for them, as everyone around them went about their lives, never seeing them for who they were: unfortunate people who had fallen on hard times.

Naruto felt for them; after all, he knew what it felt like to be abandoned and ignored. Back in Konoha, before he had gone to the Shinobi Academy, he hadn't ever been the recipient of a sign of affection. Oh, he supposed that when he was a baby, someone had probably held him close. Maybe someone even smiled down at him, stroked his face in a loving way, cooed at him in one of those fake baby voices, but as long as he could remember, his childhood was filled with scowls, angry voices and curses. They almost always refrained from violence, but even the threat of reprisal from the Hokage wasn't enough to stop all of them.

He continued on; he was supposed to meet up with Jiraiya by the end of the day in the northern outskirts of this fishing village. He still had three or four hours until sunset, so he intended to find some sort of noodle stand for dinner. The bare thought of noodles set his mind reeling..._ramen_...it had been...How long had he been traveling with Jiraiya?

Had it really been almost two whole years?

He remembered leaving as though it had been yesterday. Jiraiya told him the day before that he was going on a long trip, and that Naruto would be coming with him. When Naruto started to protest, Jiraiya assured him that he would train him in everything he knew; at that time, so soon after Sasuke's death, little else could have taken him away. Two whole years, and Naruto had learned all manner of things about being a strong shinobi, but the more he learned, the more empty he felt. Seeing so much of the world, being in places where people didn't know who he was, or _what_ he was—it had given him a lot to think about. Far from being the Hokage, did Naruto even want to live in Konoha?

He was shaken from such depressing thoughts by a scuffle that seemed to have broken out in a side street. No one else seemed to notice, but Naruto attributed it to his own fine tuned ninja senses—it had been little more than a quiet grunt and the sounds of someone dragging something, but it was loud enough for him to hear. He followed his ears until he reached the alley, where he found...nothing. He looked around, not noticing anything, and turned to leave before a glint caught the edge of his vision. He turned to look, and saw it. Where the alley met its end, and turned into another alley, was a glint of a gem, fashioned as an earing.

He stepped over to pick it up, looking at it curiously, since it seemed to be free of the dirt and grime of the alley around him. He looked down the next alley and was outraged at what he saw. A girl, wrapped in bandages, was being dragged down the alley by her arm by several heavily-muscled men; she was unconscious, and blood was slowly seeping out from under her black hair and dripping to the ground.

He could smell it.

It made him _angry_.

Naruto growled out loud. One of the men turned at the noise, only to receive a shuriken to the forhead; the force of it cut through his skull and wedged itself partway through his brain. A look of surprise was frozen on his face as he fell backwards to the ground. The two other men turned with scowls on their faces, only to have them replaced with looks of shock at the brutal death of their buddy. Their enraged faces focused on Naruto.

The one that was dragging the girl dropped her arm, and the two stepped around her towards Naruto was standing, unaware of his increasing rage. Naruto wanted these two to feel _pain_, to suffer for this, this...well, he knew that whatever these men had intended for that girl could _not _be good, and he would not let them do it. One of the men pulled out a battered old kunai, and Naruto dimly thought in the back of his mind of how the relatively thinner design clearly indicated it as coming from the nearby Water Country.

Naruto raised his hands, and brought them together in a short series of seals that made the men pause in their advance and look nervously at each other. He could tell that they felt uneasy about their chances against a ninja. _Well,_ he thought, _I'll show them something to be afraid of!_ "Kaze Tsurugi no justu!"

A small blast of chakra-laced wind blew through the alley, kicking up some of the dirt that coated the ground. The men shielded their eyes, then turned to see the kid—_ninja—_holding his fist away from his body, apparently empty. Then, rushed at them, almost faster than they could see; the one holding the kunai held it out to try and block whatever he was doing, and the man felt a gust of wind hit him in the chest and knock him back into a wall. He gasped out, catching his breath, and looked down at his hand—and watched as the end of the kunai slid off, falling to the dirt with a soft thud.

He turned to his right, just in time to see the enraged, red-slitted eyes of the ninja as he thrust his hand towards his chest and feel the pain of _something_ thrust deep through his chest. He coughed up blood and looked down to see a swirling sword of _air_ ripping through his stomach, sending agonizing pain through his body before tearing out through his side in a spray of blood that covered the side of the building he was pushed up against. His face was frozen in shock as his limp body fell to the ground.

The one still standing was pushing himself against the opposite wall of the alley in terror, having just witnessed the brutal disembowelment of his buddy. He wanted to flee, to run from this terrible, hideous ninja—who could _do_ such a thing—

He gasped as the ninja spun around and flicked his sword so fast that he couldn't even see his fist move. He breathed in and out, wondering at what the ninja had in store for him, but all the ninja did was stand there, calmly watching through those terror-inducing red-slitted eyes of his. Suddenly, he started to fall; he tried to move his legs to steady himself, but they weren't responding, and he fell to the ground with a sloppy thud. He pulled himself up with his arms, his strength quickly leaving him, and looked down long enough to notice that the lower half of his body had fallen in the opposite direction before his mind slipped into shock.

Naruto released the jutsu and turned to the unconscious girl whose forehead was still dripping blood, though not as much as before. He opened her eye and saw that it wasn't dilated. _Well, at least she doesn't have a concussion._ He looked around at the carnage surrounding him. _Can't leave her here._ He snorted at the obviousness of the thought. Naruto picked her up under her knees and shoulders and leaped onto the roof, leaving the disgusting scene for someone else to find.

**Jiraiya stood at the top** of a tree, looking around the outskirts of the village where he had told Naruto to meet him. He hadn't told Naruto exactly where he was going to be, because he had wanted Naruto to practice the use of his senses to find him. He had hidden himself under a fairly strong genjutsu he had fashioned for this exact purpose; it would prevent Naruto from being able to see or hear him, but otherwise did nothing to prevent him from _smelling_ him. Jiraiya was fairly certain that, if he trained enough, Naruto could easily outstrip the Inuzuka's own abilities to advance their sense of smell.

Jiraiya frowned; the sun had almost set, and he hadn't yet seen Naruto set foot outside the village. It was possible that Naruto had left the village at another location to try and circle around on Jiraiya, but that was the beauty of the spot he had picked. Jiraiya had to stop himself from patting himself on the back as he caught sight of a small blur almost a mile away. _Naruto_, he smirked. And waited for him to find him.

And waited.

Waited some more.

Jiraiya had gotten sick of waiting. It had been almost a half hour, and still nothing—not even movement from the bushes indicating the light settling of a chakra-enhanced foot on a branch. He decided to go look for his wayward apprentice; it wasn't impossible that something had happened to him, but Jiraiya was fairly certain that any event of that sort would be accompanied by at least some explosions. He left from his treetop, the genjutsu fading away with his focus, and moved in the direction of where his student had gone. He'd be damned if he let Naruto get away with this; he didn't know what had kept Naruto from following his teacher's orders, but it had better be good.

He came upon a small clearing, where he saw Naruto staring in confusion down at something on the ground. He could make out a still form on the ground, a girl, from the length and style of her hair—long, dark bangs flowing over her shoulders, with shorter, spiky hair covering the rest of her head. He couldn't see her face, since it was turned away from him, but Naruto was clearing staring down at it. What could he be confused about? Jiraiya decided to step out from the surrounding trees, making enough noise to let Naruto know that he was coming. Naruto turned a frown to the interruption, his face relaxing somewhat when he recognized his teacher.

"Naruto, what is this? I told you to meet me in the north half an hour ago." He stood at the rim of the trees, waiting for Naruto to explain what kept him.

Naruto's frown deepened before he spoke again. "Well, I was looking for dinner—" his stomach rumbled loudly at the thought, and he blushed and scratched the back of his head, "Well, I was gonna, but then I heard this noise in an alley, so I went to look, and I saw this earing, and then there were these guys, big guys, and they were dragging this girl," He motioned down at her, "down the alley, so I...well..." He looked uneasily off to the side. Jiraiya waved away the explanation and Naruto continued, "Well, they had hit her on her head, so I thought that I'd bring her here and wait 'til she woke up. I was trying to clean her up a little, you know wipe away some of the blood, and I took off this bandage that was covering her face, and..." He waved his arm at her. "What _is_ this, Ero-sennin?"

Jiraiya frowned and walked over to where he could more clearly see her face. His eyebrows shot up in surprise when he saw what it was that Naruto was talking about; where he had indicated the bandages had been, the skin was oddly green and..._scaly._ He looked her over, and took notice of other places where she had been bandaged. Her arms were both covered with them, and her neck, stomach and right leg, from what he could see, were also covered with them. Naruto and Jiraiya glanced at each other, Naruto's face conveying confusion and Jiraiya's a solemn, dawning comprehension.

He had no idea who she was, but he thought that he might have an idea as to what had been done to her.

Hoowah!!!!! Isa's intro! Since it's roughly a year after they meet in the anime, I'm holding that Anko's investigatory assignment went along already--and that, without Naruto getting Isaribi sent to Konoha, that she never was. Thus, tada. The next one should be up...whenever.

Small note: Since I've found a reliable translator, you should be seeing japanese translated justus. Kaze Tsurugi no jutsu means 'Air Sword.' The tsurugi is a japanese broadsword, and if you didn't pick it up, well...it's made of wind, here.

OMAKE:

Beep. Boop. Boop. _riiiiiiiing._

_riiiiiiiing._

click

_'We're sorry, but the Nextel subscriber you are trying to reach cannot be located. Please hang up and dial again._

:Voldemort glares at his phone in an overpowering rage, throws it at the wall and follows it up with a slew of _Avada Kedavra_ curses.:

"MALFOY! GET ME A NEW PHONE, DAMNIT!"

_END_

HAHA! I like it.

Adios!

DarkSov


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